1,300 Michiganders So Far Enrolled In Obamacare
LANSING (WWJ/AP) - Roughly 1,3000 Michigan residents have selected a health insurance plan in the first month of enrollment under the Affordable Care Act.
Despite appeals from Gov. Rick Snyder, Michigan legislators placed the state, with 35 other states, on the federally controlled insurance exchange instead of creating its own.
The state estimates at least 365,000 people could sign up on the market in 2014.
Meantime, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported Wednesday that just 106,185 people nationwide had applied for "Obamacare" coverage and selected an insurer, with fewer than 27,000 successfully enrolling through Healthcare.gov — which President Obama acknowledged has been plagued with problems since its launch on Oct. 1.
The 106,185 people who made it all the way through to selecting a plan represent just 1.5 percent of the 7 million people the administration hopes to enroll by next year.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said things will get better, and quickly. "There is no doubt the level of interest is strong," she said.
Sebelius added: "The marketplace is working. People are enrolling." (Read more on this story).
Enrollment runs through March.
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