President Trump's efforts to suppress applications for healthcare through Obama's Affordable Care Act have apparently fallen short, as it is reported that a record number of Americans have signed up for the first days of 2017's open enrollment period.
The Trump administration has faced heavy criticism for slashing funds earmarked for outreach and promotion of this year's enrollment period. Many have cited the move as consistent with the President's agenda to dismantle Obamacare throughout his first term in office. Although Republicans have so far been unable to completely replace the ACA, the President has eliminated certain subsidies to insurance companies and scaled back regulations that enabled the policy to operate as it has.
However, Trump's attacks on the policy didn't stop 200,000 people from enrolling on the November 1 start-up date, which is double the number of citizens who signed up on the first day of 2016's enrollment. Records also show that there were approximately 1 million visitors to the site on that date, which exceeds the 750,000 who browsed on last year's opening date. The numbers contradict projections of enrollment falling off as a result of cuts to the budget, and speak to the strength of social media in mobilizing citizens to sign up for coverage in 2018.
Former President, and father of the ACA, Barack Obama helped efforts to get citizens to the HealthCare.gov site along when he tweeted “Starting today, you can sign up for 2018 health coverage ... and find a plan that meets your needs,” on the first.
Source: nydailynews.com
