Enrollment in Obamacare plans has dragged through January, even though it’s the final month for uninsured people to purchase coverage.
About 103,000 more people enrolled in coverage using healthcare.gov in the past week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Wednesday. That brings the total to 8.9 million people who have chosen a plan on the federal healthcare marketplace, which 38 states are relying on.
The latest total doesn’t include enrollees in the 12 states running their own marketplaces. Earlier this month, the administration said about 11 million people in the entire U.S., including both through healthcare.gov and state-run marketplaces, have enrolled in Obamacare plans, a number that exceeds officials’ 10 million goal but falls short of the 13 million enrollees the Congressional Budget Office projected for 2016 in new estimates released this week.
Open enrollment ends Sunday, and the Obama administration has said it doesn’t intend to extend the deadline.
“The clock is ticking with just four days left before Jan. 31, the final enrollment deadline for 2016 health coverage,” Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said. “We are focused on making sure people know that financial help is available, the deadline is fast approaching and that we’re here to help them enroll — so that they don’t risk having to pay a penalty of $695 or more for not having health insurance.”
Most of the enrollment via healthcare.gov occurred before the holiday season, with about 300,000 people buying plans this month.
