There were 10.6 million people who paid their Obamacare premiums as of March, a decrease of 9 percent from the people who signed up for Obamacare at the end of last year.
Of the 11.8 million people who signed up for Obamacare during open enrollment that ended in December 2017, 10.6 million paid their first premium as of March 15, according to the latest data available from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
CMS argued in a report released Monday that the numbers will continue to decline throughout the year, pointing to 2017 figures. In March 2017, there were 10.3 million people who paid their premiums for Obamacare plans, about 3 percent less than the February 2018 figure. But by the end of 2017 there were 8.9 million people who remained in their plans, CMS said.
“This is likely caused by consumers struggling to pay premiums as costs continue to increase,” the report said.
CMS also found that the proportion of people in Obamacare’s exchanges that get advance premium tax credits to pay their premiums increased slightly this year.
In February 2018, 87 percent of the exchange population got subsidies. In February 2017, there were 84 percent of people getting subsidies.
