SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah enrollment in health care plans on the federal website greatly exceeded what the Obama administration expected, according to government figures released Thursday that show the final numbers the first year of the historic health care overhaul. <\/p>\n
The 84,600 people who signed up represent a 48 percent increase from the administrations target of 57,000 for the state, the Department of Health and Human Services reported. That includes people allowed to sign up during a two-week extension in April after the March 31 deadline. <\/p>\n
The figures indicate there was a huge surge as the deadline approached, with more than half of the total enrollees in Utah signing up during the final weeks. <\/p>\n
Enrollment started slowly last fall on an online marketplace plagued by glitches, but it gradually increased with each month. <\/p>\n
Nationally, more than 8 million people signed up on the new marketplace. <\/p>\n
Utah is one of more than 30 states that left it to the federal government to run its online exchange for individuals to find coverage. The state runs its own exchange for small businesses, which it created in 2009. <\/p>\n
A lot of people said Utah isnt going to go for this, but Utahns did, said Jason Stevenson, spokesman for the Utah Health Policy Project, a nonprofit group assisting with enrollment efforts in the state. They liked what they saw on healtcare.gov. <\/p>\n
Utah was one of 31 states that met or exceeded enrollment targets set by the administration before the insurance exchanges opened, an Associated Press analysis found. Twenty of those states, including Utah, are led by Republican governors, many of whom were hostile to the program. <\/p>\n
One of Utahs critics of the health care overhaul, Republican state Sen. Allen Christensen, said hes still not impressed. <\/p>\n
When you dont have any other choice and you are threatened with a fine, most people are going to sign up, said Christensen, a pediatric dentist. <\/p>\n
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