RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The first year of Virginia’s new state Health insurance market It has been successful, according to some state lawmakers.
The marketplace, which launched in November, replaces the federal marketplace known as healthcare.gov.
“Enrollment, as you may have heard, has been up this year, with more than 391,000 Virginians signing up for coverage since the marketplace launched in November,” said Sen. Ghazala Hashemi, D-Chesterfield.
Kevin Patchett, director of the Virginia Health Benefits Exchange, said they saw a 12% increase in enrollment rates compared to last year.
“We are seeing health insurance rates in Virginia remain relatively stable and slightly lower than last year,” Patchett said.
Despite this, about 7 to 8 percent of Virginians remain uninsured, said Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax, who chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee.
“The undocumented population, frankly — is a large portion of the population that is uninsured and not eligible for Medicaid and is served by our free clinic community, and that will require a change in federal law,” Sickles said.
Additionally, Sickles said young people often feel “invincible” and don’t have health insurance.
“They’ve never had a physical before, and they feel so good now, so they’re not really thinking about their health care,” Sickles said. “We as a society have a stake in everyone having insurance, otherwise we’re all paying — there’s no free lunch out there.”
Although open registration will end next Tuesday, Virginians can still register if they have a designated live event After the deadlineIncluding job loss.