The number of people who have enrolled in health plans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges hit 5 million yesterday, according to a blog post by CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner.
Ms. Tavenner attributed the rise in enrollment to a "weekend wave" of consumers signing up for health insurance through the state-based and federally facilitated exchanges. That's up from roughly 4.2 million enrollees as of March 1, according to HHS.
Last week, healthcare business advisory company Avalere Health released an analysis estimating 5.4 million people will enroll in health plans through the exchanges by March 31, the end of the 2014 open enrollment period. The Avalere analysis projects the exchanges will follow the same pattern as Medicare Part D, which launched in 2006 and saw 22 percent of voluntary enrollees sign up during the final month.
Still, despite the possibility of a late surge in enrollment, Avalere predicted the exchanges will fall short of 6 million, the most recent Congressional Budget Office estimate. Matt Eyles, executive vice president of Avalere, said an estimated 57,000 people would have to enroll each day in March for the exchanges to hit the 6 million mark, which "seems to be a bit of a stretch goal at this point."
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