ObamaCare enrollments are skyrocketing

ObamaCare's future may be uncertain, but Americans are still putting their faith in former President Barack Obama's health-care law. Enrollment rates for the 2018 period are up 47 percent compared to the same time last year, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, as nearly 1.5 million people have signed up for health coverage in the first 11 days of open enrollment.

The Trump administration cut this year's enrollment period in half and reduced the budget for ObamaCare outreach and education by 90 percent, making the jump in sign-ups all the more notable.

Reports of increased enrollment rates came just one day after Senate Republicans announced that they would include a repeal of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate — the piece of the law that requires individuals to purchase coverage or face a fine — in their upcoming tax bill. Some Republicans have previously expressed skepticism towards including the repeal of the individual mandate as part of tax reform.

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Congressional Republicans have voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act 70 times since 2011, but have been unable to pass repeal into law — even now that they control both chambers of Congress as well as the presidency. Their most recent attempts to undo Obama's signature law failed by thin margins.

An August poll by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found that 52 percent of Americans held a favorable view of ObamaCare. The current enrollment period ends Dec. 15, 2017.