The second open enrollment period of Healthcare.gov and state-based health insurance marketplaces is set to conclude this weekend, and sign-ups have increased following a minor slump.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealed that a total of 7,749,375 plan selections were made since the start of the second open enrollment period on Nov. 15, 2014, through Feb. 6, 2015. During the penultimate week of the open enrollment period, between Jan. 31 and Feb. 6, the Federally Facilitated Marketplace encountered 275,676 plan selections, which represents the "preliminary total of those who have submitted an application and selected the plan that best fits their needs." In comparison to the previous week, HHS noted 137,298 plan selections were made.

Meanwhile, the Federally Facilitated Marketplace revealed 520,630 applications were submitted during Week 12 of the open enrollment period. Submitted applications represent consumers with an application completed and finalized to the Federally Facilitated Marketplace. One submitted application could, however, represent a family.

Contacts to Healthcare.gov's services, including the Spanish-language CuidadoDeSalud.gov and its Spanish-speaking calling center, increased during the penultimate week of open enrollment. Calls to a Spanish-speaking representative increased from 78,875 calls to 122,191 calls, which finally helped the Spanish-language call center pass 1 million calls. For the website CuidadoDeSalud.gov, it also passed the 1 million-user mark, going from 125,501 users during Week 11 to 129,877 throughout Week 12.

The English-language Healthcare.gov, which has accumulated nearly 27.6 million visits, encountered nearly 3.14 million users during Week 12, an 20.7 percent hike from approximately 2.6 million on the previous week. Calls for an English-speaking representative surpassed 1-million calls between Jan. 31 and Feb. 6. Since Nov. 15, the Federally Facilitated Marketplace accrued nearly 12.1 million calls.

Two states with dense Latino populations saw more than 1 million individual plan selections made. In Texas, with a 38.4 percent Latino population, plan selections rose by 5 percent. Texas' saw 1,015,772 plan selections during Week 12. Meanwhile, Florida, with its 23.6 percent Latino population, encountered higher plan selections than Texas. The Sunshine State had 1,393,063 plan selections during the penultimate week of the second open enrollment period. The national Latino population average is 17.1 percent.

HHS disclosed metropolitan areas responsible for high plan selections and the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area accounted for 661,917 plan selections since Nov. 15, 2014. The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metropolitan area in Georgia ranked second with 309,308 people selecting cumulative plans, ahead of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area in Texas, which accrued 289,047 plan selections.

As seen during the final week of the first open enrollment period in 2014, analysts expected a large turnout during the final week as the second enrollment deadline ends on Feb. 15.

As Latin Post reported, Latinos have been recognized as the largest minority demographic without health insurance. Since the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) implementation, the Latino uninsured rate has declined by double digits. According to The Commonwealth Fund, survey results found the uninsured rate for Latinos decreased from 36 percent to 23 percent. The 13-percent decline was attributed to young and less financially stabled individuals, two groups that "historically" had high rates of being uninsured.

Among the overall millennial demographic, specifically 19-to-25-year olds, the White House stated 4.5 million youths have gained health insurance since the first provisions of the ACA was implemented in 2010. The White House's Council of Economic Advisers said nearly one-third of the 19-to-25-year-old group had lacked health coverage in 2009, which was twice the rate compared to overall Americans.

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