OBAMAmess: The Young and Unsubsidized are Shunning the Obamacare Exchange Plans

One number stands out from ObamaCare's second enrollment season: Among those signing up for coverage via Healthcare.gov, 87% have qualified for subsidies.

That's even higher than the 85% subsidized share of the 8 million people who signed up for ObamaCare exchange plans during the first enrollment season that wrapped up last April.

The data are early and lack key details, but suggest that the unsubsidized may be shunning the exchanges.

That's a surprise: The Congressional Budget Office had projected that 1 in 3 of this year's new enrollees will earn too much to qualify for premium subsidies.

Another red flag is the lagging participation among young adults: Just 24% of the 3.4 million new and renewing sign-ups via Healthcare.gov through Dec. 15 are in the 18-to-34 age group. That's down from 28% among the first 8 million to sign up for coverage for 2014, and far below the 40% that is consistent with the young-adult share of the potential exchange population.

Because the data lump together new and renewing enrollees, definitive conclusions are impossible. The picture also could change as figures from the final two months of open enrollment become available. But the trend so far is a cause for concern about the health of the exchanges.

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