HHS: 8.8 million enrolled through HealthCare.gov during open enrollment

More than 8.8 million consumers selected or were re-enrolled in a health plan through the federally facilitated Health Insurance Marketplace during 2015 open enrollment, according to preliminary data released yesterday by the Department of Health and Human Services. The count includes data for 37 states using the HealthCare.gov platform. HHS expects to issue a report detailing plan selections across the federally facilitated marketplace and state-based marketplaces next month. Almost 41,000 people signed up at the federally facilitated marketplace last week, a one-week extension granted to consumers who encountered longer than normal wait times at the call center or a technical issue on HealthCare.gov shortly before the close of open enrollment. According to a separate Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report, about 53% of enrollees at HealthCare.gov were new consumers, 25% actively selected a 2015 plan and 22% were automatically re-enrolled into the same plan or a similar plan with the same issuer.