For a second straight month, the rate of growth in enrollments for the Obama health law slowed, as the Obama Administration reported that private health insurance signups had gone over 4.2 million people by the end of February.
"Now, during this final month of open enrollment our message to the American people is this: you still have time to get covered, but you’ll want to sign up today – the deadline is March 31st," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
The numbers still lag behind the initial estimates from the Obama Administration, which had forecast a total of 5.6 million enrollments by the end of February and 1.2 million signups in that month.
You can see those original estimates here.
Only four states signed up more people in February than in January - Florida, Nevada, Vermont and Massachusetts.
California and Florida remain the top two in terms of total enrollments - but Texas has now surpassed New York for third place.
Here is the list of the states in order of the number of private health insurance signups - data includes the number of enrollments for February, the total as of the end of January, the end of February, and how February's numbers stacked up in each state when compared to January.
Enrollment age breakdown
One of the more important details about the enrollment numbers for the Obama health law is the divide between old and young - as the feds have talked about having as many as 40 percent of the signups coming from younger Americans in the 18-34 years old age range.
But the numbers show that is not happening.
Through the end of February, 25 percent of those enrolling for private health insurance are between 18 and 34, while 30 percent are between 55 and 64 - not the spread that had been forecast.
Here is a rundown of how the states are doing in three figures - 18-34 year olds, where the average is 25%; 45-54 year olds, where the average is 23% of enrollments, and 55-64 year olds, where the average is 30% of all signups.
The older the age breakdown, some argue that will mean more money gets drained out of the system, becuase not enough young 'invincibles' have signed up for coverage (many of them tend to pay for insurance, but rarely use it.)
For a second straight month, the rate of growth in enrollments for the Obama health law slowed, as the Obama Administration reported that private health insurance signups had gone over 4.2 million people by the end of February. "Now, during this final month of open enrollment our message to the ...
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