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3,500 Hoosiers Chose Exchange Plans In Two Months

Last updated on Thursday, December 12, 2013

(INDIANAPOLIS) - The federal government says nearly 3,500 Indiana residents chose a health insurance plan through the federally run online exchange during its first two months of operation.

The figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show 3,492 Indiana residents chose a health care plan between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30. That's about five times the number who chose a plan during the federal exchange's glitch-plagued first month of operation.

Wednesday's numbers also show nearly 35,700 applications from Indiana were completed during the exchange's first two months seeking coverage for nearly 70,000 people. Nearly 39,000 of those people have been found eligible to enroll in a plan through the exchange.

The new figures don't indicate how many Indiana residents selecting a health plan have started paying premiums.

Nationally, the new total of close to 365,000 people as of Nov. 30 is less than one-third the number officials had been aiming for prior to the launch of HealthCare.gov. The balky website has improved but still has some service problems.

A report from the Health and Human Services Department says that more than 137,000 have enrolled in the 36 states served by the federal website, up from fewer than 27,000 in October.

The 14 states running their own sites enrolled more than 227,000 people, up from 79,000.

Originally the administration estimated 1.2 million would enroll by the end of November.

The real enrollment crunch is just about to start.

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