Of 55,000 Montanans on Obamacare, 20,000 are in Missoula, says Healthcare.gov CEO

Healthcare.gov CEO Kevin Counihan was on Talk Back today, January 15, making a plea for Montanans to get insured before the January 31 deadline. Counihan discussed Montana’s enrollment numbers, which indicate that a huge percentage of those enrolled in Montana happen to live in Missoula.

"Actually, Montana is doing very well," Counihan said. "Just to give you a little data on that, there are over 55,000 consumers in Montana that have enrolled for coverage, including about 20,000 in Missoula. Many people are like myself, which is to say they procrastinate and wait till the last minute to do something like this."

Montanan’s total population is just over one million, but only about 70,000 of those people live in Missoula. According to Counihan’s numbers, that means roughly two out of every seven Missoulians has signed up for insurance on the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges, a huge margin compared to the rest of Montana’s cities. Counihan also stressed that there would be some changes for those that do not enroll.

"Typically speaking we've got a three month period for people to enroll, if they don't enroll before January 31, unfortunately, they will have to wait till next November to enroll. For people who can afford insurance, and don't choose to get it, the penalty has crept up a little bit, it is now $695 per person, to a maximum of 2.5 percent of household income."

Counihan was also asked what healthcare.gov’s enrollment goals were for 2016, Counihan said that although those goals exist, he didn’t want to say what they were.