During open enrollment for Affordable Care Act health plans, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will use the term “enrollment” to mean a consumer who has signed up for ACA coverage but has not yet paid. CMS does not consider such an enrollment to be official until the consumer has paid for the first month of coverage. Once the consumer pays for that first month, that enrollment becomes official and CMS will count it as an “effectuated enrollment.” Once CMS confirms that all consumers who intend to pay for their first month of coverage have paid, the agency will issue its report on effectuated enrollment, which usually happens in March each year.
