Blue Cross Says '80-85' Percent Of Obamacare Enrollees Are Paying

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, which represents the nation’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, says "80-85" percent of newly enrolled individuals buying plans under the Affordable Care Act are paying their premiums.

The figure was confirmed by Forbes this morning and is slated to be announced later today by the Chicago-based trade association for the nation's Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans. The results, which confirm from a survey of most Blue Cross participating on exchanges, are as of Feb. 1.

The news answers critics of the health law who have criticized the Obama administration for not telling people how many of those who have signed up are actually paying their premiums. President Obama yesterday announced that more than 7 million Americans have signed up for coverage to plans via state or federal marketplaces known as exchanges.

"Across the Blue system, we are seeing payment from 80-85 percent of new exchange customers," the association confirmed in a statement to Forbes. "Blue plans continue to enroll people who were 'in line' as of March 31 and providing extensive customer assistance to them. We want to make sure people have access to coverage."

Blue Cross plans are the biggest players in the effort to cover Americans under the health law. A spokesman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association said plans are still enrolling people so the results are incomplete and only for the first four months of enrollment.

Several other health plans run by Aetna (AET), Cigna (CI), Humana (HUM) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH) are also participating in the exchanges. Many of the publicly-traded health insurers are expected to report their first quarter earnings in the next month when they will also disclose payment rates.

Companies that operate Blue Cross plans are also owned by shareholders like those operated by Wellpoint (WLP) but there are also those that are nonprofit and those that are mutual plans and therefore owned by policyholders. Health Care Service Corp., for example, is the nation's fourth largest health insurer and is mutual, owning plans in Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and New Mexico.

"Paying a first premium is the final step in enrollment and our Plans set their deadlines for payment individually and it will vary across the Blue system," the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association said in its statement to Forbes. "Therefore, there won’t be a final number of who has paid for some time."