By Jerry Geisel, Crain News Service
WASHINGTON (Jan. 26, 2015) — More than 7.1 million individuals signed up for health insurance plans through the federal exchange during the first nine weeks of the 2015 open enrollment season, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported Jan. 21.
Of the 7,156,691 individuals who selected exchange coverage between Nov. 15 — the start of 2015 open enrollment — and Jan. 16, just over 400,000 opted for coverage between Jan. 10 and Jan. 16. That's nearly 2½ times more compared with the 163,050 individuals who opted for coverage the prior week.
HHS also disclosed plan selections through Jan. 16 by individuals in the 37 states in which the federal exchange is available.
Of those states, Florida had the most sign-ups for coverage over the last nine weeks: 1,270,995. Florida was followed by Texas at 918,890; North Carolina at 458,676; Georgia at 425,927; and Pennsylvania at 422,284.
At the other end, North Dakota had the fewest number of individuals who selected plans: 15,606. It was followed by Alaska at 16,274, Wyoming at 17,821 and South Dakota at 18,040.
This report appeared on the website of Crain's Business Insurance magazine, a Chicago-based sister publication of Tire Business.