Ed. note: The following is an excerpt from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' blog post on the latest Affordable Care Act enrollment numbers. Read the full post here.
From November 15 to December 19, nearly 6.4 million consumers selected a plan in the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) or were automatically re-enrolled, with approximately 30 percent of this total comprised of people newly signing up for Marketplace coverage.
High consumer demand as we neared the December 15 deadline and the automatic enrollment process that began on December 16 contributed to the overall total.
“We still have a lot of work to do before the February 15 enrollment deadline, but this is an encouraging start. People shopped for coverage and signed up – finding more choices and greater competition,” HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said.
“Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, so far nearly 6.4 million consumers, including about 1.9 million new consumers, have access to quality, affordable health coverage for 2015 through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace. This law is working, and families are better off as a result.”