White House: Exchange plans attract 8 million

President Obama announced today that the “qualified health plans” (QHPs) sold through the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) public exchanges have attracted 8 million people.

Obama said 35 percent of the people attracted are under age 35.

Obama did not say whether he was referring to people who have paid for exchange QHP coverage or simply have selected QHP coverage.

At press time, at 4:27 p.m. EDT, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had not released any additional information about exchange plan selection or plan payment activity.

The individual QHP open enrollment period started Oct. 1 and ended March 31. A two-week enrollment period extension ended April 15.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated shortly before the QHP enrollment period that the QHPs might attract about 7 million enrollees in 2014.