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 U.S.
says 9.5 million people enroll for 2015 Obamacare insurance
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[January 28, 2015]
(Reuters) - More than 9.5 million
people have signed up for 2015 individual health insurance on the new
exchanges created under the national healthcare reform law, the U.S.
government said on Tuesday, a number that surpasses its enrollment
target for the year.
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 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it had signed
up or automatically enrolled more than 7.1 million people on its
HealthCare.gov website through Jan. 16. The federally run site
covers 37 states.
Another 2.4 million people selected a plan or were automatically
enrolled in the other 13 states plus Washington D.C., which run
their own websites. That data is through Jan. 18 for California and
through Jan. 17 for the District and the other states.
"The vast majority are able to lower their costs even further by
getting tax credits,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary
Sylvia Burwell said in a statement.
The enrollment period for 2015 coverage opened on Nov. 15 and ends
on Feb. 15.
Burwell set a target calling for 9.1 million people to be enrolled
and up to date on premium payments by the end of 2015 through
private healthcare exchanges set up under Obamacare. The nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office has predicted 12 million enrollees for
2015.
HHS did not say how many of the 9.5 million applicants had paid
their premiums and become fully enrolled.
The administration announced in April that more than 8 million
people had selected 2014 plans. But by the end of last year, only
6.7 million were still enrolled.
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Eighty-seven percent of federal marketplace applicants used
financial assistance in selecting a plan, according to HHS.
The administration said 35 percent of federal applicants were under
35 years of age.
Fifty-eight percent, or 4.2 million people, re-enrolled from 2014
health plans, while the remainder were first-time applicants.
(Reporting by Caroline Humer and David Morgan; Editing by Chris
Reese and Dan Grebler)
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