Obama announces that 7.1 million sign up for ACA plans

 President Obama announced Tuesday that 7.1 million Americans have signed up for health plans under the Affordable Care Act by the March 31 deadline for open enrollment (Source: “More than 7 million have enrolled under Affordable Care Act, White House says​,” Washington Post, April 1, 2014).

The Congressional Budget Office had originally projected that 7 million Americans would enroll in marketplace plans during the inaugural open enrollment period, but that projected was later revised to 6 million following the troubled launch of the site in October.  The tally was driven upward by a late rush of consumers seeking coverage in the days and hours before the deadline of midnight Monday to select health plans for 2014.

Even after the official cutoff, more than 100,000 people at a time were on HealthCare.gov.

People who have started to enroll on the federal exchange, as well as on some state exchanges, have a grace period to finish their applications.