WASHINGTON — The number of people signing up for health insurance through the federal marketplace soared in March, exceeding the number who signed up in the previous five months, the Obama administration said Thursday in its final report on enrollment under the new health care law.
The report, for the first time, provided information about the racial and ethnic backgrounds of those signing up. Of the 3.8 million people in the federal exchange who voluntarily disclosed such information, 63 percent were white, 17 percent were black, 11 percent were Hispanic and 8 percent were Asian, officials said.
Of the more than eight million p eople who have bought insurance on the federal and state exchanges, 2.2 million, or 28 percent, were 18 to 34 years old. Insurers covet people in that age bracket because they tend to be healthier and file fewer claims than older consumers. Young adults accounted for nearly one-third of people signing up after March 1.
The numbers reported on Thursday include people who selected health plans through the March 31 deadline, as well as people who were allowed to finish applications after that date because they had been stymied in earlier efforts to enroll. The administration was generous in granting extra time to people who needed it, and this policy paid off in higher enrollment numbers. About 7.1 million people had selected health plans by the March deadline. From April 1 to 19, another 910,500 people were allowed to sign up.
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Health Exchange Enrollment Ended With a Surge
More than eight million people signed up for private insurance in federal and state exchanges during the initial enrollment period, exceeding the administration's original goal of seven million.
The new report documents the dimensions of the March surge. In the final weeks of the open enrollment period, the total number of people signed up on the federal exchange more than doubled, to 5.4 million people, from 2.6 million at the end of February. And the total on state exchanges increased 59 percent, to 2.6 million.
States with the most residents selecting plans through the exchanges during the six-month open enrollment period were California (1.4 million), Florida (983,775), Texas (733,757), New York (370,451), North Carolina (357,584), Pennsylvania (318,077) and Georgia (316,543).
California and New York run their own exchanges. The other five use the federal marketplace.
Administration officials said they did not know how many of the people signing up had paid their initial premiums. Without payment, consumers will not have coverage.
The administration noted that the eight million people who signed up for insurance included "those who have paid a premium and those who have not yet paid a premium."
Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, offered an upbeat interpretation of the numbers, which exceeded the administration's original goal to sign up seven million people on the exchanges.
"In addition," Ms. Sebelius said, "over 4.8 million more people have been covered by states through Medicaid" and the related Children's Health Insurance Program. About three million under age 26 are covered under their parents' plans, she said, "and recent estimates show that an additional five million people have purchased coverage outside of the marketplace in Affordable Care Act-compliant plans."
"Together," she said, "we are ensuring that health coverage is more accessible than ever before, which is important for families, for businesses and for the nation's health and well-being."
Nearly 3.8 million people selected plans on the federal and state exchanges after Marc h 1. They account for 47 percent of all the people who signed up in the open enrollment period.
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The administration said that "enrollment has doubled since March 1" in more than a dozen states, including Texas, Georgia and Florida.
Those selecting health plans on the federal exchange included 403,600 Latinos, nearly 626,000 African-Americans and 298,500 Asian-Americans. Among Latinos, 171,600 were in Texas and 106,600 in Florida.
In the 36 states served by the federal exchange, the number of Latinos who signed up was about three-fourths of the eligible uninsured Hispanic population, as defined by the administration.
Mayra E. Alvarez, associate director of the administration's Office of Minority Health, acknowledged that the number of Latinos picking health plans was lower than the eligible population, but said that Hispanic enrollment was nevertheless "an important first step forward."
Ms. Alvarez said that enrollment might have been adversely affected by the immigration concerns of "mixed-status families." Such families may, for example, include an illegal immigrant parent, ineligible for coverage on the exchange, and children who are United States c itizens and therefore eligible.
About 85 percent of those who selected plans on the exchanges qualified for financial assistance in the form of tax credits to help pay premiums. Women outnumbered men, accounting for 54 percent of the people who selected plans on the exchanges.
Federal officials said they did not know how many of the people signing up were previously uninsured. Only 13 percent of those seeking financial assistance on the federal exchange said they had insurance at the time they applied. But the administration said this figure was not a reliable guide to insurance status. Federal application forms do not identify people who lost coverage recently or were about to lose it. Moreover, the report said, "estimates of the share of previously uninsure d vary widely among surveys."
In any event, Michael Hash, the director of the Office of Health Reform at the Health and Human Services Department, said he was confident that "premiums will be stable next year" because the pool of new policyholders was "sufficiently large and varied."
Federal officials said they did not know if or when they might release data showing how many people had enrolled in health plans sold by each insurance company. Some states have disclosed such data.
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