OBAMACARE ENROLLMENT HEALTHY IN NY

Enrollment in New York State of Health, the staterun health exchange set up under the Affordable Care Act, surpassed last year's sign-up numbers as the open enrollment deadline approached.

The state Department of Health announced on Jan. 18 that 243,600 New Yorkers have signed up for qualified health plans offered by private insurers on the state health insurance exchange, exceeding last year's enrollment.

About 55,000 of the qualified health plan enrollees are new, the rest are returning customers.

Enrollment was also up for the Essential Plan, which offers plans for $20 per month to lower-income New Yorkers who still make too much for Medicaid or Child Health Plus. Enrollment in that plan reached 726,300, up more than 10,000 people since last reported in mid-December.

The three-month open enrollment period ends Jan. 31. That's the deadline for the commercial qualified health plans offered on the state exchange. Enrollment in Medicaid, Child Health Plus and the Essential Plan insurance offerings on the exchange is open year-round.

New York chose to maintain a later deadline than the Dec. 15 cutoff set by the federal government for states that rely on the federal Healthcare.gov marketplace.

State health officials promised in the announcement a final enrollment push that was to include an increase in paid advertising, targeted email reminders to consumers and more than 85 events across the state.