New Data Shows Affordable Care Act Enrollment Exceeded Insurance Company Projections

Jun 18, 2014
Press Release
New Data Shows Affordable Care Act Enrollment Exceeded Insurance Company Projections

Washington, DC (June 18, 2014)—In conjunction with today’s 27th hearing on the Affordable Care Act held by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings issued a Fact Sheet with new data collected from insurance companies participating in Affordable Care Act exchanges. 

Over the past several months, Republican staff on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have been contacting health insurance companies participating in the Affordable Care Act exchanges to request data about initial enrollment projections, as well as actual enrollment since October 1.  Although there are problems with the methodology they used, several conclusions can be drawn from the data provided by insurance companies to date.

Overall Enrollment Exceeded Projections

Thirteen insurance companies provided the Oversight Committee with data on projected and actual enrollment.  The new data obtained by the Committee shows that actual enrollment exceeded insurance company projections by 4.0%.  This result was achieved despite significant challenges with federal and state websites.  The data provided by these insurance companies already removed individuals whose plans were canceled because they did not pay first-month premiums.

Enrollment Exceeded Projections for Key Age Group of 18 to 34 Year Olds

Ten insurance companies provided data to the Oversight Committee broken down by age group.  The new data from these insurance companies shows that enrollment among adults age 18 to 34 exceeded projections by nearly 11% and represented the single largest proportion of new enrollees at nearly 27%.

The data also shows that enrollment exceeded projections in all age groups except for children and teenagers age 0 to 17.

Enrollment Exceeded Projections in Most States

Twelve insurance companies provided data on projected and actual enrollment broken down by state.  Based on this data, enrollment exceeded projections in 17 of the 31 states for which the Committee obtained data.  Notably, some of the largest enrollment increases occurred in Republican-controlled states that were hostile to the Affordable Care Act, indicating that there is extremely strong demand in these states for quality, affordable insurance.  (States in which data was collected for only one insurance company are listed anonymously to avoid disclosing information unique to that company.)

* Updated on June 19, 2014, with additional data and to correct calculation error in original.

Click here for a PDF version of the Fact Sheet.

Issues: 
113th Congress