PA healthcare enrollee figures grow

Health insurance numbers rose by more than 10,000 in Pennsylvania during November through the Healthcare.gov website, according to Daily Local Business. Insurers in the state expect figures to continue growing during December too as the Dec. 23 deadline nears for Jan. 1 coverage, the New Jersey Herald reported. 

According to the Herald, after the federal government's insurance marketplace began taking submissions for coverage Oct. 1, technological issues hindered many in Pennsylvania from applying. In the first weeks, only 2,200 applications from Pennsylvanians maneuvered through the online portal. 

Although the majority of U.S. states, 36 in total, opted to provide a place for federal insurance through the government's Healthcare.gov site, some 14 remaining states chose to create their own websites to avoid problems. However, Pennsylvania's Gov. Tom Corbett turned down the option of a state-run exchange in favor of the federal marketplace, the Daily Local Business reported. 

So far, the Department of Health and Human Services has reported 74,000 Pennsylvania residents have enrolled for coverage since the federal exchange site's roll out, with plans that will cover more than 137,000 individuals.