Almost 6.5 Million Signed Up for Health Insurance on Exchange

According to the US government health agency, nearly 6.5 million people signed up for or were automatically reenrolled for a 2015 healthcare insurance plan via Healthcare.gov, as of December 26, 2014. Open enrollment for 2015 coverage ends on February 15, and the government had previously set a goal of 9 million enrollees.

The online marketplace sells plans for 37 states, while the remaining states sell individual insurance on their own online exchanges. In 2014, the 37 states represented 68% of the total nationwide enrollment of around 7 million people, the agency said.

California and New York have seen 161,752 new enrollees but did not provide data on any reenrollments, according to the Department of Health & Human Services. Another 7 states reported that 153,011 people had selected a plan or actively reenrolled but did not provide figures for automatically reenrolled consumers. Five states, including Connecticut and Kentucky, said they had a total of 318,075 plan selections and re-enrollments.—Kerri Fitzgerald

Source: Thomson Reuters. 2014; Nearly 6.5 million people in 2015 Healthcare.gov plans: U.S. agency.