The deadline for signing up and receiving coverage by Jan. 1 was Dec. 24.
The White House has released new figures that show a surge in the number of American people who have signed up for health insurance through the federal marketplace.
Some 1.1 million Americans have signed up for coverage since the marketplace opened in October, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said on Sunday.
Independent experts say combined with numbers for state-run markets due in January, the figures should put total enrollment in the new private insurance plans under the health law, widely known as Obamacare, at about 2 million people through the end of the year, The Associated Press reports. That would be about two-thirds of the Obama administration’s original goal of signing up 3.3 million by Dec. 31. The overall goal remains to enroll 7 million people by March 31.
Most of the 1.1 million people enrolled in the federal insurance exchange “ 975,000 “ signed up in the month of December.
The deadline for signing up and receiving coverage by Jan. 1 was Dec. 24.
“Our enrollment nearly doubled in the days before the January 1 coverage deadline compared to the first few weeks of the month. December enrollment so far is over 7 times that of October and November. In part, this was because we met our marks on improving: the site supported 83,000 concurrent users on December 23rd alone,” CMS Administrator Marilyn B. Tavenner said.
The healthcare website has been plagued by crippling technical problems that made it nearly impossible for some Americans to sign up for healthcare in the early days. The numbers show that the site is working a lot better now.
“The figures tell only part of the story. The administration has yet to provide a December update on the 14 states running their own exchanges. While California, New York, Washington, Kentucky and Connecticut have performed well, others are still struggling,” according to USA Today.
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Source: Press TV