Nearly 2.5 million people have chosen health plans through federal health exchanges since enrollment opened roughly one month ago, according to The New York Times.
Between Dec. 6 and Dec. 12 alone, the marketplace saw a surge of health insurance sign ups with more than 1 million Americans selecting their plans before the first deadline.
According to a CMS official, the most recent data doesn't include activity from Dec. 13 through Dec. 15, the weekend proceeding and the day of the deadline.
During those three days, the federal exchange website was especially busy, being used by more than 3 million people, according to the CMS official cited in the report. Additionally, the call center for the exchange received 1.6 million calls during the weekend and on Monday.
During the last four weeks, approximately half of the health exchange enrollees were new customers and half were either renewing their coverage or selecting a different plan. Millions more will have their coverage automatically renewed for not taking any action.
The most recent data included numbers from the 37 states that use the federal exchange and doesn't include states that run their own exchanges, including New York, California and 11 others.
Although the deadline to ensure coverage would kick in Jan. 1 has passed, the enrollment period is open until Feb. 15.