‘Obamacare’ enrollment hits all-time high, deadline to sign-up is Wednesday

Wednesday is the deadline for people who are interested in subsidized health insurance plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

As it winds down, the shopping season for 2025 coverage has already seen record enrollment in Georgia as well as nationwide. It’s particularly remarkable in Georgia because it occurred at the same time that the state switched every single shopper and insurance account over from a federal database to a brand new one run by the state.

Georgians can no longer shop on the federal exchange, healthcare.gov. The state system is called Georgia Access and the main shopping website is GeorgiaAccess.gov, a signature initiative of Gov. Brian Kemp.

Gov. Brian Kemp signs SB 65, a bill to establish a state-based exchange under the Affordable Care Act, where Georgians could shop for ACA health insurance plans on a state-run website. Kemp is flanked by his wife, Marty, and sits before a crowd of legislators at the Georgia Capitol on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (PHOTO by Ariel Hart)

When Jan. 15 passes and open enrollment closes, some types of shoppers will still be able to buy plans regardless of when they enroll. People who have a life event like moving to the state, losing their job or getting married get what’s called a “special enrollment period,” or SEP.

However, the biggest exempted group that can continue shopping is those who make between the poverty level and 150% of the poverty level, or between $15,060 and $22,590 per year for a single-person household. Last year, that group formed the majority of Georgia’s ACA policyholders.

Nationwide the ACA, also known as Obamacare, has so far added 3 million new enrollees, including about 200,000 Georgians. That marks a new record of 1.5 million Georgia policyholders for 2025 coverage, compared to 1.3 million last year. That was also a record.

Of Georgia’s 1.5 million so far, about 1 million were automatically re-enrolled after they took no action to cancel or buy a new policy. Some have free premiums. For the others, enrollment will stop if they don’t pay their premiums. The ACA offers private insurance plans with government-subsidized premiums to people who make more than the federal poverty level.

The increases in enrollment have been driven largely by additional federal subsidies under the Biden administration. They discounted premium prices even further and for people at more income levels. Those are temporary and set to expire in December.

In Georgia, the state also increased advertising and outreach, which also helped, experts say.

The Georgia Access shopping site launch year’s success is “a win-win for everybody,” said Sen. Ben Watson, R-Savannah. Watson chairs the Senate Health Committee and sponsored the bill that eventually created Georgia Access. “The insurance department, they’ve done a great job marketing, and obviously the computers worked too, unlike the beginning of the ACA.”

GeorgiaAccess.gov outreach workers like Sheena Wiley were hired to travel the state and hand out promotional materials for people who might be eligible to get health insurance on the state's new Affordable Care Act website. The truck behind Wiley serves tea and coffee. They took part in the Georgia Access launch event Friday, Nov. 1, 2024 near the Georgia Capitol. Georgia Access is the new state-based exchange marketplace for the Affordable Care Act in Georgia, run by the office of Insurance Commissioner John King. (Photo by Ariel Hart)

When the federal healthcare.gov exchange opened for the first time for shopping in 2013 under then-President Barack Obama, the website crashed and then glitched for months, tarnishing the reputation of the ACA itself. Obama himself later called that launch “a well-documented disaster.”

GeorgiaAccess.gov also froze on launch day for some users, and private insurance agents reported other problems that have hamstrung them. But overall, the site appears to have mostly worked as intended.

Georgia follows 18 other states that have built their own websites, and it hired a contractor with experience in those. Even so, one expert in state exchanges, Sabrina Corlette of Georgetown University, said most still see a dip in enrollment the first year they launch since shoppers are thrown off by the change. She said the fact Georgia instead saw an increase was a noteworthy success.

And it’s not even over. One person hailing the open enrollment deadline in recent days was Obama.

“If you haven’t already ...,” the former president said, “sign up by January 15.”

2025 ACA HEALTH INSURANCE ON GEORGIA ACCESS NEARS SHOPPING DEADLINE

Georgians interested in subsidized Affordable Care Act health insurance can shop until Jan. 15. Here are some tips.

WHAT IS THE DEADLINE

• Open enrollment for ACA health insurance in 2025 ends at midnight the night of Jan. 15.
• That coverage will start on Feb. 1. To get coverage that’s active in January you had to buy the policy last year.

WHERE TO SHOP

• Georgians can no longer shop Healthcare.gov.
• The ACA website for Georgians is now GeorgiaAccess.gov. Click “Consumer Portal” for the state’s site to shop, contrast and compare plans and prices for your income situation.
• Unbiased “navigators” are available at eight organizations. They get paid for helping you regardless of which plan you buy or don’t buy. GeorgiaAccess.gov has a list of the eight navigator organizations on its website. To see the list, click here.
• The state’s help line is 888-687-1503 (TTY Line 711).
• The web broker HealthSherpa.com presents only plans that meet the federally qualified guidelines for robust coverage. Its phone number is (855) 772-2663.
• GeorgiaAccess.gov also suggests using private agents, insurance company websites and other web brokers for help. They can be searched from the website.
• Note that the state website is GeorgiaAccess.gov, not GeorgiaAccess.org. The “org.” version flips a customer to the website of what appears to be an unaffiliated insurance business called VIP Health Insurance, run by Victory Insurance Partners; the owner of the URL’s registration was kept private.

CAN I GET AN EXTENSION?

• People with a qualifying “life event” like getting married or moving to a new county can shop for 2025 coverage after the deadline passes. That’s called getting a special enrollment period, or SEP. To see a full list of those events that merit an SEP, click here.
• One big group of people automatically qualified for special enrollment periods is those who make just above the federal poverty level: from 100% of the poverty level to 150%. That’s between $15,060 and $22,590 per year for an individual, or between $31,200 and $46,800 a year for a family of four.