Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday at a congressional hearing that Obamacare enrollment had ticked up to 7.5 million in the past week.
“Last week we announced that 7.1 million Americans have signed up for private insurance through the marketplace. As of this week, 400,000 additional Americans have signed up,” Sebelius told the Senate Finance Committee. “And we expect that number to continue to grow.”
The White House had touted the 7.1 million figure — which eclipsed the Congressional Budget Office’s original projection prior to HealthCare.gov’s disastrous launch — after Obamacare’s open enrollment deadline arrived on March 31.
But the administration also allowed people who attested that they had tried to enroll through HealthCare.gov before March 31, but hadn’t succeeded, to finish the process before April 15. Sebelius’s announcement that 400,000 people had signed up since last week is the first indication of how many people have taken advantage of the additional time.
The 7.5 million figure does not account for how many people have paid their first premium, formally initiating their coverage.
