

The administration hits an enrollment target it took three months to reach last year. (Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

Nearly 2.5 million people picked new health plans through HealthCare.gov during the first month of Obamacare's second-ever enrollment period, according to the Obama administration — far outpacing enrollment during the law's glitch-filled first year of expanded coverage.

The enrollment update, which didn't include 14 state-run exchanges, was the first provided by the administration since the deadline for obtaining coverage starting Jan. 1 ended for most consumers. The update provides enrollment figures for 37 states using the HealthCare.gov enrollment platform through last Friday, so it does not include the final days leading up to the Dec. 15 deadline for obtaining Jan. 1 coverage.

"We did have an extremely busy weekend," said Andy Slavitt, principal deputy administrator for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency overseeing the health insurance marketplaces. Slavitt declined to say how many people signed up on Dec. 15, but administration officials said the federal call center received more than 1 million calls on Monday.

The enrollment process is apparently running much more smoothly this year. By comparison, it took three months last year for 2.2 million people to sign up for an exchange plan during the law's first enrollment period, which was hampered by severe technical problems. The federal insurance marketplace has dealt with "small- and medium-sized issues" on a daily basis, Slavitt said on a press call Tuesday afternoon.

"Our call center and our technology have done their jobs, so far," Slavitt said on a press call Tuesday afternoon. Slavitt said HealthCare.gov deployed a "waiting room" for 90 minutes during a period of high traffic on Monday. Several thousand people waited an average of three minutes to get into the system, according to Slavitt.

Returning customers account for slightly more than half of the 2.5 million people who have picked a marketplace health plan so far. The Obama administration and Affordable Care Act supporters have been urging those customers to return to the Web site to update their information and possibly shop around for a better deal, but most will allow their health insurance plans to automatically renew and potentially leave money on the table. Administration officials stressed that those people can still pick a new health plan through Feb. 15, but the coverage won't start until after January.

"Some may receive a bill and decide, 'I still want to make a change,' and they can make that change in the coming months," Slavitt said.

The consulting firm Avalere Health on Tuesday projected that 10.5 million people will enroll in exchange coverage by the end of 2015 — lower than the 13 million people predicted by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, but higher than the 9.1 million goal set by the Obama administration before the start of the current enrollment period in November. Avalere said its prediction could fluctuate by 1 million people.

The current enrollment period is scheduled to last three months, about half the length of the first enrollment period. HHS has been releasing weekly enrollment snapshots over the past month but hasn't yet provided a comprehensive enrollment report about who's buying coverage and where.

This post has been updated with the number of states using the HealthCare.gov enrollment platform.