Swift enrollment activity sends ACA signup total to 5 million

A surge of people utilizing the state and federal exchange sites has pushed the latest Affordable Care Act enrollment number to 5 million, according to a new estimate released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Marilyn Tavenner, administrator for CMS, indicated there's been a flurry of individuals purchasing plans through HealthCare.gov and the state marketplaces lately, presumably because the March 31 open enrollment deadline is fast approaching.

"The last several days have been the busiest since December, with the call center taking more than 198,000 calls on [March 13] alone - the busiest day since December 23," said Tavenner.

She added that in the second full week of March, approximately 4 million visited the federally facilitated exchange website and another 1 million dialed up the website on March 15 and 16. With fewer than two weeks left before the deadline, Tavenner urged consumers to talk to their family members and remind them to sign up soon.

The Obama administration aimed to enroll approximately 7 million people by the end of this month. Whether that goal is reached depends on 10 of the nation's most highly populated states signing up in large numbers, coverage experts recently told Kaiser Health News.