Tennessee Enrollment In Obamacare Wasn’t So Low This Year After All

Tennesseans made up ground signing up for individual health plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplace in the final week. Despite running well behind last year through the open enrollment period, the final tally is down just 3 percent.

In total,
223,320 signed up in Tennessee compared to
230,493 in 2017. That means more people enrolled in the final week than
in the prior weeks combined — even with the
late Friday ruling from a judge in Texas that put the future of the Affordable Care Act in doubt.

The Trump Administration also
slashed funding for navigators and marketing. But 28-year-old Matthew Wiser of Nashville says at this point, he doesn’t need inspiration from an ad. He just needs basic coverage.

“It’s just a habit,” he says. “It’s almost like a yearly ritual. It’s almost like doing your taxes.”

More:

Why Some Tennesseans Will Pay More For Insurance Despite Lower ACA Premiums

Wiser signed up on the final day, similar to his procrastination on the annual tax deadline.

Tennessee is roughly on par with the national figure, down about 4 percent from 2017. Some projected a decrease of 10 percent or more given the end of the individual mandate to buy insurance starting in 2019.

“Even without the mandate, the penalty was less of a motivator than the fact that I’ve aged out of my parents’ plan,” Wiser says. “If I fall and break my hip, or I come up with some long-term disease, I have to have some kind of safety net in place. I can’t afford to not have health care, really.”