South Florida tops nation for health insurance enrollment
Almost four times as many individuals in South Florida enrolled or were re-enrolled through HealthCare.gov for healthcare coverage than any other metro region in Florida…
Many more people will see the doctors and receive the care they need thanks to the Affordable Care Act. (Shutterstock)
Almost four times as many individuals in South Florida enrolled or were re-enrolled through HealthCare.gov for healthcare coverage than any other metro region in Florida as of Jan. 30, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Janis Haddon of Atlanta holds her glove high outside the United States Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 28, 2012, as the court concludes three days of hearing arguments on the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (AP)
Despite Republicans fighting hard against President Barack Obamas signature legislation, Florida managed to enroll more people than any of the 37 other states in the HealthCare.gov marketplace, according to USA Today. Ironically Florida is one of the states that has refused to create its own insurance marketplace — trying to discourage the federal universal healthcare plan. This leaves the uninsured population to resort to seeking private insurance plans on the federal marketplace.
A of January 30th, 1,339,791 people enrolled or were re-enrolled. This number signifies the total for people either enrolling for this year or automatically renewed for policies they chose last year in the private insurance marketplace.
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The top 12 highest-enrolling ZIP codes in Florida all were in Miami-Dade County, with one zone notching 12,330 enrollees. Thirty-four of the 40 ZIP codes with the highest enrollment rates nationwide were in Florida; six of those were in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
The release broke down enrollment into metropolitan statistical areas. A metropolitan statistical area is a region larger than a county with a high population density at its core, surrounded by a sprawl of related economic activity.
Florida is one of 37 states that uses a federally-facilitated marketplace as part of the HealthCare.gov platform that was developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Federally-facilitated marketplaces operate in states that elected not to build their own healthcare marketplace.
In Florida, second place goes to Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, where 162,125 people enrolled or were re-enrolled as of Jan. 30, followed by Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, with 142,905 people.
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Through the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, individuals have the opportunity to enroll in health insurance plans provided by private companies using a competitive marketplace that won’t discriminate against them based on age, or preexisting medical conditions.
The open enrollment period for most individuals to get coverage runs from Nov. 15, 2014 through Feb. 15, 2015. In order to get coverage on the first day of month, an individual needed to sign up by the 15th day of the preceding month.
