California health insurance exchange's open enrollment off to big start

California, the biggest public health insurance exchange, says enrollment for 2015 is far eclipsing the enrollment rate during the comparable period last year.

During the first four days, which started Saturday, of the 2015 open enrollment season, 11,357 state residents selected a plan in the exchange created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and known as Covered California.

By contrast, last October, when the 2014 open enrollment season began, by the end of 15 days, only 10,972 applicants had opted for a plan.

“We had a strong start when we opened Saturday for Covered California, and we are continuing to see tremendous interest from people seeking security for themselves and their families,” Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee said in a statement.

Covered California officials anticipate enrollment to hit about 1.7 million when the 2015 open enrollment period ends on Feb. 15, 2015. That would be an increase of about 500,000 from the current enrollment.