On Thursday, the Health and Human Services Department said that 943,934 new enrollees signed up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act between the end of open enrollment on Feb. 22 and June 30. The new customers were able to sign up during "special enrollment periods" tied to life changes like marriage, the birth of a child, or the loss of employment. Thursday's numbers are preliminary — they only include customers in the 37 states that use the federal HealthCare.gov marketplace, but they also don't count people who enrolled then didn't pay their premiums.
Thanks in part to the new enrollees, the U.S. insurance rate has dropped below 10 percent, to 9.2 percent, according to federal National Health Insurance Survey data released earlier this week. Seven million fewer people lacked insurance in the first three months of 2015.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
America's academic brain drain has begunIN THE SPOTLIGHT As the Trump administration targets universities and teachers, educators are eying greener academic pastures elsewhere — and other nations are starting to take notice
-
Why is Musk targeting a Wisconsin Supreme Court race?Today's Big Question His money could help conservatives, but it could also produce a Democratic backlash
-
How to pay off student loansThe explainer Don't just settle for the default repayment plan
-
Measles outbreak spreads, as does RFK Jr.'s influenceSpeed Read The outbreak centered in Texas has grown to at least three states and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting unproven treatments
-
RFK Jr. offers alternative remedies as measles spreadsSpeed Read Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes unsupported claims about containing the spread as vaccine skepticism grows
-
Texas outbreak brings 1st US measles death since 2015Speed read The outbreak is concentrated in a 'close-knit, undervaccinated' Mennonite community in rural Gaines County
-
Mystery illness spreading in Congo rapidly kills dozensSpeed Read The World Health Organization said 53 people have died in an outbreak that originated in a village where three children ate a bat carcass
-
Ozempic can curb alcohol cravings, study findsSpeed read Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may also be helpful in limiting alcohol consumption
-
New form of H5N1 bird flu found in US dairy cowsSpeed Read This new form of bird flu is different from the version that spread through herds in the last year
-
Microplastics accumulating in human brains, study findsSpeed Read The amount of tiny plastic particles found in human brains increased dramatically from 2016 to 2024
-
FDA approves painkiller said to thwart addictionSpeed Read Suzetrigine, being sold as Journavx, is the first new pharmaceutical pain treatment approved by the FDA in 20 years
