California officials announce enrollee tally, note last-minute surge

Covered California, the state's online health insurance marketplace, signed up 200,000 people for coverage during the two-week deadline extension -- bringing the state's total to 1.4 million. The state's initial goal was about 815,900 for the six-month enrollment period that began Oct. 1, 2013.  

Los Angeles Times: Obamacare Enrollment Nears 1.4 Million In California Exchange
Covered California signed up more than 200,000 consumers for Obamacare coverage after extending its enrollment deadline by two weeks, bringing the statewide total to nearly 1.4 million people. The health insurance exchange gave people until Tuesday to finish enrolling after the state website faltered at the end of March from a crush of last-minute applicants (Terhune, 4/17).

The Associated Press: California Health Care Sign-Ups Exceed Projections
A late surge of sign-ups pushed California's health insurance exchange nearly 100,000 enrollees beyond the original projections of the Obama administration, state officials announced Thursday. Nearly 1.4 million Californians selected a private policy through the state's exchange by Tuesday's open enrollment extension, and 88 percent were eligible for subsidies to reduce their monthly premiums (Lin, 4/17).

The San Francisco Chronicle: Covered California Enrollment Numbers Surpass Goals
More than 205,000 Californians signed up for health insurance through Covered California in the final extended two weeks of enrollment that ended April 15, bringing the total number of enrollees in the state health exchange to about 1.4 million people. The state had set an enrollment goal of about 815,900 for the six-month enrollment period, which began Oct. 1. When the numbers for people who signed up for coverage for Medi-Cal, the state-federal health program for the poor, are included, the total exceeds 3 million people. The state expanded its Medi-Cal program as part of the federal health law, often referred to as Obamacare (Colliver, 4/17).

The San Jose Mercury News: Obamacare Sign-Ups Beat Projections In U.S., California
Good news on two fronts for President Barack Obama's health care law surfaced Thursday after health plan enrollment numbers reported by California and the White House wildly exceeded expectations. Obama announced that 8 million Americans had signed up for plans, 1 million more than projected. Meanwhile, a concerted, late-stage effort by California's health insurance exchange to expand outreach efforts, particularly in Latino communities, helped boost private health insurance sign-ups in the Golden State to almost 1.4 million (Seipel, 4/17).