During the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) second enrollment, from November 2014 to February 2015, it was announced that 11.7 million people signed up for private healthcare coverage— that’s a 40% increase from the first enrollment period last year. By the end of that period, Hispanics represented over 400,000 enrollees in the federally facilitated marketplaces who answered the optional question of ethnicity.
What does the Hispanic outlook look like during this second enrollment period? From November to February, self-identified Hispanic enrollments climbed to over 600,000 — that’s a 52% growth from last year. Although about one third of enrollee’s ethnicity is unknown, the data shows that the Hispanic share of those purchasing insurance in the marketplace is going up.
Hispanics continue to be a key segment in the ACA’s registration efforts; they’re younger than the general population, which means they are helping balance the makeup of enrollees, keeping prices down for everyone. As more data comes in, we’ll be able to further evaluate Hispanic enrollment and the impact this is having on ACA, specifically, and in the healthcare industry. For now, these numbers mean that there are millions of Hispanics who have gained healthcare coverage through the ACA. This presents more opportunities for the healthcare and insurance industries to engage and inform this important audience.
