August 07, 2020

As Uninsured Rates Rise, Manchin Again Urges President Trump To Allow ACA, Medicare Enrollments

Charleston, WV – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) joined several colleagues in again urging President Donald Trump to establish a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for the Affordable Care Act and Medicare. A recent report found that 5.4 million workers have become uninsured due to job losses caused by COVID-19. Additionally, every year there are thousands of senior citizens who do not sign up for Medicare, and therefore miss out on the insurance market for that year. With the increased risk that seniors face from COVID-19, allowing them another chance to obtain affordable health insurance is needed. Without the affordable access to diagnosis and care furnished by comprehensive health insurance, people who begin to feel sick will delay seeking medical attention, thereby placing them at an even higher risk of illness.

“In April we wrote to request that you open a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) federally run Marketplace, as it was already clear that the COVID-19 crisis was creating an unprecedented and unforeseen need for health care coverage. We are disappointed that you chose not to do so, blocking millions of uninsured Americans from being able to purchase comprehensive health insurance and further exacerbating the crisis by discouraging them from seeking testing or treatment due to a lack of coverage. Now, more than three months since our original request, and with the benefit of additional data, we write with renewed urgency to request that you authorize an SEP for both the ACA and Medicare,” the Senators said in part.  

Senator Manchin was joined by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NN), Tina Smith (D-MN), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Doug Jones (D-AL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tom Carper (D-DE), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Bob Casey (D-PA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Tom Udall (D-NM).

To read the letter in full click here or read below.

Dear President Trump,

In April we wrote to request that you open a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) federally run Marketplace, as it was already clear that the COVID-19 crisis was creating an unprecedented and unforeseen need for health care coverage. We are disappointed that you chose not to do so, blocking millions of uninsured Americans from being able to purchase comprehensive health insurance and further exacerbating the crisis by discouraging them from seeking testing or treatment due to a lack of coverage. Now, more than three months since our original request, and with the benefit of additional data, we write with renewed urgency to request that you authorize an SEP for both the ACA and Medicare.

Since the beginning of this pandemic, an estimated 5.4 million workers have become uninsured because of job losses, the highest ever annual increase. Of these 5.4 million, an estimated 600,000 would have signed up for an ACA plan if your administration had authorized an SEP. Moreover, the empirical evidence presented by state-based marketplaces reinforces these estimates. Of the 13 states that operate a state-based marketplace, 12 have announced an SEP, and more than 266,000 people have enrolled in them so far.

It is clear that many people who want insurance are not able to purchase it because you have chosen not to offer an SEP, and many of the millions of Americans who have recently become uninsured due to job losses are unaware that they qualify for federally subsidized health care coverage. You could dramatically expand the number of Americans with health insurance during this critical time by reopening the ACA exchanges and using the power of your office to make people aware of the availability of affordable coverage.

Additionally, every year there are thousands of seniors in this country, who for one reason or another, do not sign up for Medicare and are locked out of the insurance market until the following year. Given everything we know about COVID-19 and how it has devastated our seniors, it is incomprehensible why your administration has chosen not to reopen the Medicare enrollment period to allow all eligible seniors to enroll in Medicare.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage communities and has now infected three million Americans. The urgent need for comprehensive, affordable health care coverage has only increased since we wrote to you in April to request that you open an ACA SEP. We urge that you take seriously the challenges that millions of people are facing in our country and reopen enrollment for both the federally run ACA Marketplace and the Medicare Program.