Miami and Atlanta top Obamacare sign-ups

Ohbamacare seems to be very popular in Miami and Atlanta, as the two cities hosted almost a million people between them.

The Obama administration announced Obamacare enrollment in local markets through Healthcare.gov, which covers approximately 38 states. The numbers do not represent states like California that operate their own insurance exchanges.

The top five cities are:

Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, 588,183 listings

Atlanta, 394,458

Dallas/Ft. Value, 333,105

Houston, 298,346

Chicago, 278,687

In total, approximately 74,239 people selected plans for Obamacare for the week of January 3-9 on Healthcare.gov. Enrollments are down from the previous week, in which 83,297 people chose a plan on the federally-run website.

Last week, the administration announced that about 11 million people have signed up in total, including those who signed up on Healthcare.gov and various state-run insurance exchanges.

Officials have set a goal of having about 10 million people sign up and pay for Obamacare coverage by the end of this year.

Open enrollment ends Jan. 31, and the administration signaled Monday that it won’t have as many special enrollment periods for people to sign up throughout the year.

The crackdown on special enrollment is intended to ensure that someone doesn’t sign up for Obamacare when they get sick and drop coverage when they feel better, which can drive up premiums.

Doubt remains over which special enrollment periods will be eliminated, but advocates said Wednesday that key special enrollment categories would likely remain, such as enrollment periods for those who lose their jobs or move.

“There are 33 special enrollment categories,” Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, the state-run Obamacare insurance exchange, said on a call with reporters. “CMS is looking to reduce some of those that are rarely used and used inappropriately.”