HHS: Nearly a million consumers have completed the health insurance sign up process; 106,185 have selected plans

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced enrollment numbers today for the federal and state online health insurance marketplaces that opened Oct. 1. Medicaid enrollment data were also released.

The Washington Post: Administration: 106,000 Enrolled In Health Insurance In First Month Of HealthCare.gov
The Obama administration reported Wednesday that slightly more than 106,000 people were able to enroll in new health-insurance plans during the first month of the troubled Internet marketplace under the new health-care law. ... The numbers represent a fraction of the half-million health-plan enrollees that the Obama administration had initially projected, before the HealthCare.gov Web site's rocky rollout thwarted many shoppers' attempts to sign up for insurance. Budget forecasters previously projected that 7 million people would enroll in coverage during the open enrollment period for the insurance exchanges, which runs until March 31 (Branigin and Somashekhar, 11/13).

The New York Times: Health Law Enrollment Figures Far Lower Than Initial Estimates
The White House has spent weeks trying to lower expectations about the enrollment figures, which have set off a pitched political battle among supporters and critics of the health overhaul, each seeking political advantage in the numbers. One point of contention is around the way the Obama administration defines who, precisely, is enrolled. The administration counts new enrollees as those who have "selected a marketplace plan" (Stolberg, 11/13).

Politico: October Obamacare Enrollment Low
One quarter of those people came through the flawed HealthCare.gov site, which is used by 36 states. The rest enrolled in the 14 states and Washington D.C., that are running their own enrollment system, most of which are generally operating much more efficiently than the federal site. The figures, which fall well short of the administration's early goals, include people who have selected a health plan, whether or not they have actually paid for it. The White House has been tamping down expectations for weeks, warning that they have always expected the first month of enrollment to be low, even before the problems with the website became clear (Cheney and Millman, 11/13).

USA Today: Only 26,794 People Bought Insurance Via HealthCare.gov
Despite the low numbers, Sebelius touted the overall level of interest in buying health insurance. "We expect enrollment will grow substantially throughout the next five months, mirroring the pattern that Massachusetts experienced," she said in a release before the official announcement of the enrollment figures. The states with their own exchanges outperformed those in the federal exchange: 3,736 signed up in Colorado; 4,418 in Connecticut; 5,586 in Kentucky; 16,404 in New York; and 7,091 in Washington (Kennedy, 11/13).

Los Angeles Times: Obamacare: 106,000 Signed Up For Health Coverage So Far, Officials Say
Enrollment has been particularly weak in the 36 states whose new insurance marketplaces are being run by the federal government. ... Despite the relatively low enrollment numbers, administration officials stressed Wednesday that consumer interest in health insurance appears strong. Nationwide, nearly 1.1 million people have been deemed eligible to get insurance through one of the new marketplaces, according to applications that have been submitted by consumers, the Department of Health and Human Services reported. An additional 396,000 people have been deemed eligible for the government's Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program, officials reported (Levey, 11/13).

Huffington Post: Obamacare Enrollment Numbers Fall Far Short Of Target
Technical problems besieging HealthCare.gov, the federal online portal for insurance in more than 30 states, and the websites for several state-run marketplaces have hampered sign-up and threaten to derail President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement. The Obama administration is far from meeting the Congressional Budget Office's projection of enrolling 7 million people into private insurance and 9 million people into Medicaid by March 31. The disappointing results of the first phase of Affordable Care Act enrollment underscore the fragility of the new marketplaces and the urgent need for the Obama administration to get HealthCare.gov reliably functioning by the end of this month. The coverage of millions of people whose plans are being eliminated hangs in the balance, as does the prospect of fulfilling the promise of reducing the ranks of the 48 million Americans who have no health insurance (Young, 11/13).

CBS News: HHS: At least 106,185 Enrolled In Obamacare So Far
Some state-run Obamacare websites have, so far, run more smoothly than HealthCare.gov, which may be reflected in the enrollment numbers: Of the 106,185 people who signed up in the first month, three quarters of them signed up through state-based programs. Only 26,794 signed up on the federal website. The administration has promised to have HealthCare.gov running smoothly for the vast majority of users by the end of the month. Yet as the technical problems persist, members of Congress are growing increasingly concerned about people who are being dropped from their current insurance plans and may have problems enrolling in new ones (Condon, 11/13).