California health exchange logs 144,178 new enrollees in first month

Cecil Day of Shasta Lake, California, talks to DeAnne Blankenship of Chico, left, director of California Health Collaborative, and Amy Palmer of Sacramento, director of communications and public relat/ AP Photo

California, which has the biggest public health insurance exchange, says enrollment for 2015 is far ahead of the enrollment rate during a similar period last year.

From the Nov. 15 start of 2015 open enrollment season through Dec. 15, 144,178 state residents selected a plan in the exchange created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and known as Covered California.

By contrast, from Oct. 1, 2013, when the 2014 open enrollment season began, to the end of October 2013, only 30,830 applicants had opted for a plan, while during the first two months of the 2013 open enrollment reason, 109,296 applicants chose coverage.

We saw tremendous momentum during the first month of open enrollment, with more than 25,000 people completing enrollment on Monday alone,” Covered California Executive Director Peter V. Lee said Wednesday in a statement. “This is further proof of the great demand that Californians have for quality, affordable health care coverage,” he added.

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.