Louisiana sees another drop in insurance through marketplace

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana saw its fifth annual drop in health insurance enrollment through the individual marketplace set up through President Barack Obama’s federal health overhaul law. The Advocate reports that enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s individual market fell to about 83,000 this year, down from nearly 88,000 policyholders last year. The program offers income-based, taxpayer-subsidized private health insurance plans for people who aren’t covered on the job. Louisiana’s decline is part of a national trend. Enrollment across the country dropped from 8.28 million to 8.25 million in the 38 states that, like Louisiana, use the federal HealthCare.gov website for the individual marketplace.