Connecticut’s health insurance exchange ended its first open enrollment period with 197,878 people signed up for health care coverage, including 5,917 who enrolled Monday.
The final tally might be higher because exchange staffers are still working with people who tried to sign up before the midnight deadline but didn’t complete their applications.
According to the exchange, 5,365 people left voicemail messages with questions about their applications, and about 5,000 people provided information in person or online before the midnight deadline.
“With such a significant surge in enrollment, we will make sure anyone who attempted to enroll but encountered some difficulty will not miss out on being enrolled,” Kevin Counihan, CEO of the exchange, Access Health CT, said in a statement. “We will work diligently to follow up with everyone who left a voicemail yesterday or visited one of the in-person enrollment locations to ensure their application is complete for coverage beginning May 1.”
Of the enrollees, 76,597 people, or 38 percent, signed up for private insurance, while the remaining 121,181 will receive Medicaid.
Monday was the deadline for people to sign up for individual-market private insurance as part of the federal health law commonly known as Obamacare. People can sign up for Medicaid at any time during the year.
In addition, people who undergo a change in circumstances during the year, such as losing their job or getting divorced, will be allowed to sign up for insurance within 60 days of the change.