Several health insurers have indicated about 80 percent of people who signed up for health plans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act exchanges have paid their first premiums, according to a report for The New York Times.
People must make their first premium payment in order to complete the enrollment process and have their coverage take effect. Paul Wingle, the executive director of exchange operations and strategy at Aetna, told the Times about 500,000 of the insurer's more than 600,000 exchange enrollees had made an initial premium payment.
Likewise, J. Darren Rodgers, the chief marketing officer of the Health Care Service Corporation (which sells Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico), said only 15 percent of enrollees had missed their first premium payment deadline through April. Dennis Matheis, the executive in charge of exchange strategy for WellPoint, told the Times "large percentages" of the company's exchange enrollees had made their first premium payments on time.
Last week, HHS announced just over 8 million people have signed up for health plans through the PPACA exchanges. However, America's Health Insurance Plans has indicated that total includes numerous duplicate enrollments resulting from people who tried to sign up multiple times due to website errors, according to the report. AHIP Senior Vice President Mark Pratt told the Times it could be months before insurers know how many people have actually completed the enrollment and coverage activation process.
More Articles on PPACA Enrollment:
Gallup: Uninsured Rate Hits Lowest Point Since 2008
White House Disputes House Committee Report on PPACA Premiums
6 Key Statistics on PPACA Enrollment for 2014