Sign-ups near 1.4 million in federal health insurance exchange
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Nearly 1.4 million individuals signed up for health insurance plans through the federal exchange during the first three weeks of enrollment, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported Wednesday.
Of the 1,383,683 individuals who selected exchange coverage between Nov. 15 and Dec. 5, not quite half — 618,548 — opted for coverage between Nov. 29 and Dec. 5.
Of those opting for coverage in the 37 states in which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services operates the exchanges, enrollees were closely divided between those selecting an exchange plan for the first time, at 48%, and those who renewed coverage, at 52%.
The selection of plans by 1,383,683 individuals through Dec. 5 contrasts sharply with the anemic enrollment of a year ago when the federal exchange, as well as some state-run exchanges, experienced huge technological problems, including website crashes and long waits to talk to call center representatives
At the end of November 2013, for example, just 137,204 individuals had secured coverage through the federal exchange.
HHS also reported that its call center received more than 2.5 million calls from Nov. 15 through Dec. 5 with an average wait time of 2 minutes and 31 seconds.
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