Many people are not taking advantage of an ongoing special enrollment period for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a CNBC report.
Although millions of people are eligible, CMS revealed Wednesday that only about 36,000 people signed up for health insurance plans sold on HealthCare.gov from March 15 through March 29.
Charles Gaba, operator of the PPACA tally-tracking site ACASignups.net, had anticipated about 220,000 people would have signed up under the grace period by now, according to the report.
"Certainly, it's lower than I thought it might be," Mr. Gaba told CNBC. "What I'm wondering is...as we approach the 15th [of April], is there going to be a big spike?"
HealthCare.gov's special enrollment period, which is for individuals and families who did not have health coverage in 2014 and are subject to the fee or "shared responsibility payment" when they file their 2014 taxes in states which use the federally-facilitated marketplaces, began March 15 and runs through the end of April. According to the report, 11 states, along with Washington, D.C., are also allowing a special grace period on their PPACA exchanges.
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