(Bloomberg) — About 9.5 million people have signed up or renewed their Obamacare insurance coverage for 2015, the government said today, surpassing last year's enrollment total with 19 days to go.
The government has said it expects 9.1 million people to be paying for coverage in 2015. Because not everyone who signs up will pay their premiums and complete the enrollment process, the administration needs more than 9.1 million to select a plan by Feb. 15.
"We still have a lot of work to do before Feb. 15, but are encouraged by the strong interest we've seen so far," Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the Health and Human Services secretary, said in a statement. Federal officials haven't said how many people they hope will initially sign up.
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It's the first time the U.S. has reported new health plan enrollment and renewals nationwide for 2015 coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The figures include 37 states served by healthcare.gov, the federal enrollment system, and 13 states that handle enrollment themselves.
Last year was the first year of coverage under the law, and about 8 million people signed up by May. By Oct. 15, paid enrollment had fallen to 6.7 million as people dropped out or found other sources of insurance, such as through new jobs or from Medicare, the program for the elderly and disabled.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated larger enrollment numbers than the administration, and in April said 13 million people would be enrolled in private plans sold under the Affordable Care Act in 2015. The Obama administration said the budget agency's estimate was too aggressive in November, and that the law would take more time reach full enrollment.
On Monday the CBO scaled back its 2015 estimate by a million, to 12 million. The agency also said the health law's coverage expansions, including from the Medicaid program for the poor, would cost less than it initially projected. It credited new data and changes to the law and its implementation.
Health coverage under the law is expected to cost $571 billion through 2019, the CBO said, a 20 percent reduction from the agency's estimate in 2010, when Obama signed the measure.
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