Biden’s Obamacare Do-Over: Another Chance to Sign Up, This One More Publicized

In December, the last Obamacare enrollment period under the Trump administration closed. Now that the Biden administration has arrived, it’s trying a do-over.

The renewed effort reflects the Biden team’s view that the Trump administration did too little to help people find coverage, despite a public health crisis and waves of job losses. Although insurance sign-ups were up a bit compared with last year, the growth did not match the increase in need.

In an executive order he signed Thursday, President Biden created a 90-day enrollment period starting Feb. 15 on Healthcare.gov, the insurance marketplace that serves 36 states. The White House plans to run an outreach campaign with paid advertising and direct-to-consumer marketing.