In a broadcast interview on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg Surveillance," Manatt's Joel Ario, a managing director with Manatt Health, discussed how likely it was that the late sign-ups on the federal exchange were young, healthy people.
When asked if the late sign-ups were the young invincibles—the young, healthy buyers that the system needs to work effectively, Ario replied:
"We don't know for sure yet, but most likely the answer to that is yes, because if you think about who comes in first, it's the people who really need the coverage right now. We saw some of that at the end of last year. And then when you think about the people who wait until the last minute, they're probably the ones that don't really need the coverage yet. They're still thinking about whether they still want to come into the system. I expect the average age to come down and the risk profile to improve as we learn more about these final enrollees."