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ACA marketplace enrollment surged by 21% in 2022, from 12.0 million as of the end of the Open Enrollment Period for 2021 to 14.5 million in OEP 2022. The primary cause was plainly the massive boosts to premium subsidies provided by the American Rescue Plan in March 2021 (witness the enrollment surge in the emergency Special Enrollment Period in effect when the boosted subsidies came into effect). Ramped-up federally funded enrollment assistance and advertising may also have helped.
A less visible marketing measure may also have been a factor: the online search environment has been cleaned up. Search today on Google for "health insurance" or "Obamacare" and HealthCare.gov, the federal exchange that serves 33 states, will top the search results. Search for "health insurance Nevada" and Nevada Health Link, the state-run ACA exchange, will be on top. The same is true for all of the 17 states (and D.C.) that run their own exchanges. There are some slight variations on Yahoo and Bing, but results there are also generally reliable.
