California health insurance exchange enrollment off to strong start

Supporters of Covered California hold signs during a promotional stop on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014, in San Jose, California. California's health care exchange is targeting Latinos and others who missed la/ AP Photo

California, the state with the biggest public health insurance exchange, says enrollment for 2015 is far surpassing the enrollment rate during a similar period last year.

From the Nov. 15 start of 2015 open enrollment season through Dec. 3 — 48,952 state residents selected a plan in the exchange created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and known as Covered California.

By contrast at the end of October 2013 — after the first month of the 2014 open enrollment season — only 30,830 applicants had opted for a plan.

“The pace of enrollment is strong, at rates far exceeding those we saw last year,” Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee said in a statement Wednesday.

The 2015 open enrollment figures are for first-time enrollees. Data about current enrollees renewing their coverage will be released early next year, Covered California officials say.

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.