4.7M have signed up for ObamaCare plans

by Jessie Hellmann - 12/13/17 10:31 AM ET

More than 4.7 million people have signed up for ObamaCare plans in six weeks of open enrollment, according to numbers released by the Trump administration Wednesday.

More than 1 million people signed up in the sixth week, which ran from Dec. 3 through Dec. 9, including 389,000 new customers.

That’s higher than the 823,000 people who signed up in week five of open enrollment, which spanned from Nov. 26 through Dec. 2.

People had been enrolling at a faster rate than last year in weeks prior, though there wasn’t a large difference this week.

{mosads}Last year, week six also saw more than 1 million enrollees. About 6,000 more enrolled in week six this year than last year.

But because open enrollment is only half as long as it was last year, experts expect that the number of total people who sign up for the exchanges could will short of previous years.

Open enrollment ends Friday for most states.

The strong numbers so far come despite cuts the Trump administration made to ObamaCare’s advertising and outreach budget.

The initial surge has also put the administration, which has long claimed the health-care law is failing, in a difficult spot.

But if the final enrollment numbers are significantly lower than in the past, which many analysts expect, it could bolster the GOP’s argument that ObamaCare is failing and needs to be repealed.

Tags ObamaCare