The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealed 2.4 million new consumers have enrolled in the federal HealthCare.gov marketplace during the latest open enrollment period.

Following the current third open enrollment period's Dec. 17 deadline, nearly six million people, overall, have signed up for HealthCare.gov, including consumers who reenrolled.

"The unprecedented demand and the millions of new customers who have signed up for health insurance send a clear message: The Marketplaces meet an important need that had gone unanswered for too long," said HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell. "Millions of Americans want and need coverage, and they're finding affordable, high-quality coverage through HealthCare.gov -- many for less than $75 per month in premiums after tax credits," adding that there is a $695 or more penalty for not having health insurance for 2016.

"There was an unprecedented amount of traffic at the call center and an incredible amount of activity on HealthCare.gov. On Dec. 14 and Dec. 15, we took more than two million calls at the Marketplace call center. During that same period more than 3.7 million people visited HealthCare.gov. For much of December 15, there were 180,000 or more consumers simultaneously shopping for coverage at any one moment," said Andy Slavitt, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

As Latin Post reported, Dec. 15 was the initial December deadline for people wanting health insurance to start on Jan. 1, but due to increased the demand, the HHS provided a two-day extension.

HealthCare.gov serves as the health insurance marketplace for 37 states that have yet to adopt state-level exchanges. The 37 states that use the federal marketplace are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The final deadline for the 2016 open enrollment period is Jan. 31, 2016.

Based on HHS' analysis, 17.6 million people have gained health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

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