Individual mandate repeal has minimal impact on ACA enrollment

More than six months after Republicans essentially eliminated the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate by abolishing the tax penalty for violators, the impact appears minimal (Source: “Affordable Care Act survives end of ‘individual mandate’,” Columbus Dispatch, Aug. 13, 2019).

While early indications suggest Ohio’s uninsured rate — down to 6% as recently as 2017 — has grown, policy experts say, the mandate isn’t likely the reason.

“The individual mandate was never that strong of motivating factor or forcefully enforced,” said Amy Rohling McGee, president of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio.

Meanwhile, insurance markets in Ohio and elsewhere remain stable this year. In Ohio, enrollment in the individual market dropped a bit in 2019 and premium costs have begun to level off after some bumpy years, according to federal data. Nearly 207,000 Ohioans purchased health insurance through a federally operated exchange in 2019, down 15% since 2016. It’s unclear why people dropped coverage or whether they gained insurance elsewhere.