Texas saw a whopping 42% increase in Affordable Care Act (ACA) sign-ups for 2022 coverage compared to the year before, and southern states also had increases of 30% or more.
New data from the White House showed which states saw the biggest spikes in sign-ups fueled in part by enhanced subsidies passed as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.
“We saw marked growth in coverage and access to plans by people in states where little had been done in the past to let them know what was available to them,” said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra during a call with reporters Thursday. “We quadrupled the number of navigators to help people get through the system.”
Texas saw the largest spike in sign-ups with a 42% increase compared to 2021 as more than 1.8 million people have coverage under the ACA.
Georgia had a 36% increase in sign-ups to more than 701,000 people, and South Dakota had a 32% spike. Several southern states also experienced double-digit spikes such as South Carolina (31%), Alabama (30%) and Arkansas (33%).
Overall, more than 14.5 million people signed up for ACA coverage for 2022, including 5.8 million new customers, the White House said.
While the enhanced subsidies have helped spark more sign-ups, they only last through the 2022 coverage year. An effort to extend the subsidies through 2026 as part of the Build Back Better Act has stalled in Congress.