Nearly five years after the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, about 16.4 million people who were previously uninsured have gained health insurance under the law.
That’s the latest from the Department of Health and Human Services, which released new figures on the insured population in advance of the ACA’s five-year anniversary. According to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, it’s the “largest reduction in the uninsured [population] in four decades.”
“When it comes to the key metrics of affordability, access and quality, the evidence shows that the Affordable Care Act is working, and families, businesses and taxpayers are better off as a result,” said Burwell.
Under the law, roughly 14.1 million adults gained access to coverage since the online exchanges opened in October 2013. Another 2.3 million adults under the age of 26 were allowed to stay on their parents’ insurance, and expanded Medicaid coverage in several states has also brought the uninsured rate down.
Insurance agents, of course, were vital in achieving these figures. In California alone, agents helped enroll 43% of this year’s new insurance customers during the 2015 season. That far outstripped navigators—who enrolled 10% of consumers—as well as the 30% of people who enrolled themselves.
Those figures defied predictions that navigators and online signups would erode the agent role.
Despite their success, however, many agents remain unhappy with the enrollment process. Provisions in the law related to the medical loss ratio have slashed commissions, and hang-ups with the federal and various state exchanges have proved time consuming.
Sylvia Oliverez, an agent with Santa Clara, California-based Be Well Insurance Solutions, described this year’s open enrollment season as a “nightmare.”
“I felt like it was worse this year than last year,” said Oliverez, who spent a significant portion of her time helping clients enroll in Medi-Cal plans. “The communication is non-existent—Covered California is pointing the finger at Medi-Cal, Medi-Cal is point the finger at Covered California, and Medi-Cal won’t pick up their phone.”
Oliverez also spent a lot of time on the phone fielding calls from clients who were enrolled in the wrong plans and couldn’t get through to Covered California customer service. Additionally, payments for her efforts last year were late, and when received were “less than what as expected.”
Final figures from this year’s open enrollment season have not yet been released.
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