A few days after a Texas judge ruled that the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional, the federal government released details about how many people got coverage through the federal exchange the law created.
In North Carolina, 502,464 people signed up for coverage on the marketplace. That’s 4 percent fewer than last year. The decrease mirrors the national trend. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services reports 8.4 million people in the 39 states chose plans through healthcare.gov during the seven-week open enrollment period.
In South Carolina, the decrease in sign-ups was less significant with 216,889 people signed up for coverage. That amounts to a less than a 1 percent decrease in sign-ups from the prior year.
Just one day before the open enrollment period ended, a Texas judge sided with 18 Republican attorneys general and two governors who claimed that without a key part of the law, the individual mandate, the ACA is unconstitutional. And this week, North Carolina's Josh Stein and 16 other attorneys general have asked the courtto clarify this ruling and what it means for the millions that have signed up for coverage.