WASHINGTON _ Despite Trump administration efforts to discourage people from signing up, the number of people enrolling for Affordable Care Act coverage nearly hit last year's level, the government revealed Thursday.
The 8.8 million people who enrolled in the 36 states that use the federal government's healthcare.gov system significantly exceeded most forecasts.
The Trump administration stopped most outreach and other efforts this year aimed at getting people to sign up. The president also repeatedly said publicly that Obamacare was "dead."
Open enrollment continues in states that run their own health care marketplaces. The figures from the federal government indicate that when those states wrap up for the year, the number of people covered by Obamacare will be nearly the same as in 2017.
