WASHINGTON — The government churns out tons of numbers, but here’s one you won’t see: 0.0002. That’s the percentage of estimated online visitors to healthcare.gov who actually signed up for coverage the first day.
Altogether, that’s six people out of just over 3 million.
Not all the figures associated with the rollout of President Barack Obama’s health care law are so ridiculously dreary. Three million tells a happier tale, too. That’s how many young adults have been able to get coverage under their parents’ plan thanks to the law’s rule that people up to age 26 can do so.
A look at the heath care law’s early going, by the numbers:
OBAMACARE, BY ANOTHER NAME, SMELLS SWEETER
81: Percentage of young Democrats who approve of the Affordable Care Act, according to December poll by Harvard’s Institute of Politics.
58: Percentage of young Democrats who approve of “Obamacare,” which is the same thing.
PROBLEM SOLVED? NOT ENTIRELY.
55 million: Estimated number of uninsured in America.
31 million: Remaining number of uninsured in America in 2016, when most of the law’s provisions have taken hold, according to federal projections.
89: Percentage of all residents expected to have health insurance in 2016.
91: Percentage of all residents, excluding people living in the country illegally, expected to have health insurance in 2016.
WHO’S IN?
14: States that set up their own health insurance exchanges. District of Columbia also has its own exchange.
36: States that refused, leaving the federal government to do it.
WHO’S IN? PART TWO.
25: States that are expanding Medicaid to more people under the health care law, along with the District of Columbia.
19: States that refused.
6: States that haven’t decided.
100: Percentage of the cost of the state Medicaid expansion being paid by Washington for three years, then dropping to 90 percent.
WHO’S IN? PART THREE
1 million: People who had signed up for private coverage under the federal health law by Dec. 20, up from 354,682 three weeks earlier.
1.2 million: People the administration originally projected would sign up for private coverage under the law, as of Nov. 30.
LOCATION, LOCATION
227,478: People who had signed up through the 14 state-run exchanges as of Nov. 30.
137,204: People who had signed up through the federally run exchanges operating in 36 states by that same date.
THIS IS PROGRESS?
65: Percentage of people who reported in early October that they had failed when they tried to buy insurance through the health exchanges, according to an AP-GfK poll.
51: Percentage of people who reported in early December that they had failed when trying to buy from the exchanges, according to another AP-GfK poll.
A NEW FISCAL CLIFF?
$95: Fine for an adult who goes without health insurance in 2014, or 1 percent of taxable income, if greater. Maximum $285 penalty per family.
$695: Fine for an adult going without health insurance in 2016, or 2.5 percent of taxable income. Up to $2,085 per family.
6 million: The number of people who could be fined in 2016 for going without insurance, according to federal researchers.
POCKETBOOK POINTERS
$46,000: Individuals earning up to this amount should qualify for some level of subsidy to buy private insurance. Same for a family of four earning up to $94,200.
$328: Average estimated monthly premium, before any subsidies, for a mid-range silver plan that covers 70 percent of medical costs.
$516: Estimated cost of that plan in Wyoming. Prices vary widely depending on where you live and other factors.
$6,350: The most anyone with an individual plan (whether bronze, silver, gold or platinum) will have to pay for medical care in a year, on top of premiums. Family out-of-pocket expenses are capped at $12,700.
COMING, GOING
3 million: Number of young adults up to age 26 who have stayed on their parents’ health plans under the law.
4 million-plus: People whose individual plans were canceled because the plans didn’t measure up under the law. The government changed rules to allow substandard plans to exist for another year; it’s not known how many canceled policies will be revived. Another rules change allowed cancellation victims to sign up for bare-bones catastrophic coverage.
JUST VISITING
39.1 million: Visitors to state and federal health insurance web sites as of Nov. 30.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
7 million: People expected to sign up by the end of open enrollment season March 31, according to administration’s original projections.
WEB $ITE
$677 million: Set aside for spending on technology through the end of October 2013.
EXIT STRATEGY?
$109 million: Estimated 10-year hit to the federal budget if the law were repealed.
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