Florida continues to lead the nation in the number of people taking advantage of a special enrollment period for coverage under the Affordable Care Act, with 146,250 people obtaining health insurance between Feb. 15 and March 31.
Nationwide, more than 500,000 people obtained Obamacare coverage during that period, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“Access to quality, affordable health care is essential --- especially as we tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a prepared statement.
Jodi Ray, director of Florida Covering Kids & Families, a University of South Florida program that works to sign up people for insurance, attributed the success to increased awareness of coverage options.
"Having to deal with the challenges of more than a year of a global pandemic has necessarily helped educate more people who have an ongoing need to find out what resources and assistance are out there,” Ray said.
“Even though Florida has pretty much always led the country, we’ve always believed that we could have had even much bigger numbers the past few years if we had the outreach and marketing tools and budgets that we’re now beginning to see.”
Last month, President Joe Biden extended the enrollment period by three months, until Aug. 15, as part of the administration's effort to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also, the recently approved $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act includes several provisions to boost coverage under the ACA, such as expanding eligibility for premium tax credits.
