WASHINGTON — Sunday is the deadline for people to enroll in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, and the latest data show more than 10 million people have signed up for new plans so far, surpassing enrollment during last year’s troubled rollout.
“The enrollment experience between this year and last year is pretty dramatic,” Kevin Counihan, chief executive of the federal health insurance exchanges, said on a press call Wednesday.
Traffic to the federal government’s health insurance website, which is running much more smoothly this year, was up noticeably as the coverage deadline approached, Obama administration officials overseeing the health insurance marketplaces said last week. About 275,000 people signed up through HealthCare.gov between Jan. 31 and Feb. 6 — the most recent week of data available — making it one of the busiest enrollment weeks in the past two months.
The enrollment period is ending about three weeks before the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the insurance subsidies available through HealthCare.gov and threatening to disrupt health coverage for millions later this year.
Almost 7.8 million people have signed up for 2015 coverage in the 37 states relying on HealthCare.gov. Officials said they have seen enrollment surges in the past week in Southern states including Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and South Carolina. At least 2.4 million more people have also signed up for coverage through state-run exchanges set up in 13 states and the District, according to the most recent administration data reported weeks ago.
The Obama administration has said it hopes to keep 9.1 million people enrolled in exchanges across the country in 2015, a lower target than the 12 million set by the Congressional Budget Office. Before the start of the current enrollment period, 6.7 million people were enrolled in 2014 health plans.
Administration officials said the enrollment numbers will fluctuate through the year as people drop out of coverage, become newly eligible for special enrollment periods or find another source of coverage. About 200,000 people will soon be removed from the exchange rolls because their citizenship status could not be confirmed, administration officials said last week.
Saturday, a technical problem interfered with HealthCare.gov sign-ups, but officials said it was fixed Saturday night.
Health and Human Services spokeswoman Katie Hill said some people trying to get coverage hadn’t been able to get their income information electronically verified. That’s crucial because the amount of financial assistance to help pay premiums is based on income.
The IRS handles income verification for the website. In a statement, Hill said the problem was due to issues with “external verification sources.”
The glitch seemed to be affecting people with new applications. People who previously submitted their income details — but hadn’t completed the final step of picking a plan — were still able to do so.
The official sign-up deadline in the 37 states served by HealthCare.gov is 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday.
Last year, HealthCare.gov stumbled at the start. Numerous technical problems with the website were a huge headache for consumers, and an embarrassment for the tech-savvy White House. This year, the process had worked fairly smoothly.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
