White House says Obamacare enrollment a priority

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Getting more Americans to enroll for health insurance under President Barack Obama’s healthcare law known as Obamacare is a top priority of his administration until President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, the White House said on Thursday.

“We would be focused on … maximizing the opportunity that currently is available for millions of Americans to go to healthcare.gov during the open enrollment period and sign up for healthcare,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a news briefing.

Sylvia Burwell, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, tweeted on Thursday that Nov. 9 was HealthCare.gov’s best day with 100,000 sign-ups since it began selling the 2017 Obamacare plans on Nov. 1.

Trump has said that he plans to repeal Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act. Insurers have said that 2017 Obamacare plans will remain in place and that any changes would affect 2018 plans.

Earnest said that people should not worry about what could happened to the health care exchanges under the Trump administration.

“These are benefits that are available to them today. We certainly would encourage people to sign up and capitalize on the good opportunity that’s there,” he said.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Caroline Humer in New York; Writing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by James Dalgleish and Jeffrey Benkoe)