The second open enrollment period of federal health insurance marketplace, HealthCare.gov, has accrued nearly 6.6 million plan selections by consumers or automatic enrollments, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The second open enrollment period started on Nov. 15 and has specifically garnered 6,593,388 plan selections, which represents the "preliminary total of those who have submitted an application and selected the plan that best fits their needs." For Week Seven of the current open enrollment period, between Dec. 17, 2014, and Jan. 2, 2015, HealthCare.gov saw 102,896 plans selected. The rate of Week Seven's plan selections is considerably lower than Week Five's 3,927,484 plan selections.

HealthCare.gov, however, saw encountered 246,543 health insurance applications submitted, which helped increase its total since Nov. 15 to 8.4 million applications submitted.

"Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, nearly 6.6 million Americans have access to quality, affordable health coverage for 2015 through the Federally Facilitated Health Insurance Marketplace," said HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said. "As we turn to the New Year, our focus is on helping every individual who is interested in quality, affordable health insurance to understand their options and to get covered."

The average wait time for a Spanish-speaking representative is still lower compared to the English equivalent. Spanish-speaking calls have encountered an average wait time of 8 seconds during the seventh week, down compared to 1 minute and 27 seconds for an English-speaking representative. In total, 593,209 calls for a Spanish-speaking representative were made since the start of the second open enrollment period. Since Nov. 15, 7,412,617 calls were made for an English-speaking representative.

In regards to HealthCare.gov's websites, nearly 1.6 million users have visited the English version of the federal marketplace website. In total, HealthCare.gov attracted 16,449,792 users since Nov. 15. For the Spanish-language equivalent, CuidadoDeSalud.gov, the rate is significantly lower at 571,220 users since Nov. 15, including the 51,302 users during week seven.

The final deadline for the second enrollment period is Feb. 15. Burwell noted potential health insurance applicants could receive coverage starting Feb. 1 if they sign up by Jan. 15.

The federal HealthCare.gov and CuidadoDeSalud.gov are available for states without state-level health insurance marketplace exchanges. The HHS noted 37 states use the federal marketplace: 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.

Individuals and families without health insurance coverage for 2015 should expect a penalty fine higher than in 2014.

All taxpayers are expected to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on whether they had health insurance or not during 2014 as required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also referred to as Obamacare.

As Latin Post reported, the penalty fee for not having health insurance will vary on a person's income. For 2014, the IRS had announced the penalty is 1 percent of taxable income or $95 person, pending which cost is higher based on the 2014 federal tax return. According to HealthCare.gov, the penalty for individuals is only for those earning more than $10,000 for income. The maximum penalty is the national average premium for the bronze plan.

For the 2015 tax season, the penalty will increase to 2 percent of the yearly household income or $325 per person for the year. The IRS will expect the higher cost from the consumer. For families, the penalty is $325 per person, and $162.50 per child under 18 years old, although the maximum penalty per family will be $975.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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