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Only 8,200 people had paid their premiums on Hawaii’s health insurance exchange as of March 31, according to a federal report released Tuesday.
The Hawaii Health Connector said there are around 38,000 who have enrolled in coverage under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, but have yet to pay their bills.
“That number will come up dramatically as people pay their premiums,” said Jeff Kissel, the Connector’s executive director. “A lot of them haven’t even been billed. We need to wait for the reports from the insurance companies to understand how many have actually paid. It takes a couple months to reconcile them.”
The report by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees Obamacare exchanges nationwide, said 4,860 of the 8,200 individuals that purchased coverage through the Connector received subsidies averaging $192 per month. In total, $11.2 million in Obamacare subsidies was issued to lower the cost of health insurance for local residents, CMS said.
