Obamacare enrollees are doing more shopping this year to find a better plan.
Of the 6 million enrollees who renewed coverage, about 60 percent looked for a new plan, enrollment figures released Wednesday show.
The surge in plan shopping coincides with bigger premium increases in certain plans and new features on healthcare.gov that enable consumers to calculate their out-of-pocket costs.
The number of people looking for new plans, 3.6 out of the 6 million who renewed, is slightly above last year’s total.
Last year about 4.2 million consumers re-enrolled in Obamacare, and about 2.2 million of those people came back to the marketplace to update their information and select a plan, according to administration figures.
As for enrollment, it was a slow week for Obamacare from Dec. 20 to Dec. 26. About 274,659 signed up for coverage on healthcare.gov, which residents in 38 states use to search for plans.
Since the start of open enrollment, about 8.5 million people have re-enrolled or gotten a new plan in Obamacare.
Open enrollment for 2016 coverage ends Jan. 31. The administration set a modest goal to have about 10 million people sign up and pay for coverage.
