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A million new customers have signed up for health insurance during the Affordable Care Act’s third open-enrollment season, Obama administration officials said on Wednesday, and call centers have been deluged with requests from others eager to enroll. The officials brushed aside reports of rising premiums and deductibles and concerns expressed by UnitedHealth Group and other insurers that say they are losing money in the new online insurance marketplaces, or exchanges. (Pear, 12/9)

Although premiums are increasing in most states, HealthCare.gov CEO Kevin Counihan says he's optimistic about a strong open enrollment season. Tuesday Dec. 15 will be the first big test: It's the deadline for consumers to sign up for subsidized private coverage that takes effect Jan. 1. (12/9)

Speaking to journalists, Slavitt said that some consumers are showing sophistication in scrutinizing the details of available plans before choosing coverage. Some 2 million people so far have used new features on HealthCare.gov that allow consumers to search whether a given health plan covers their medicine or includes their doctors. That online searching, Slavitt said, “means that people are not just ... going with the cheapest plan.” (Goldstein, 12/9)

The administration also says it won't be doing special enrollment periods for people who are shocked into wanting to sign up after they see their penalty at tax time for not having insurance, something they offered this year. Insurers have been critical of the unpredictability caused by these special periods — which are also offered for people in a variety of situations, such as those who move out of state, marry, divorce or lose their job. (O'Donnell, 12/9)

The officials cited the latest enrollment data as a reason for confidence in the long-term stability of HealthCare.gov, which was created under President Barack Obama's national healthcare law and sells individual insurance plans in 37 states. (Humer, 12/9)

Ten days before the deadline to get health insurance through Obamacare, 2.84 million people have signed up through U.S.-run marketplaces, the government said Wednesday. For the week that ended Dec. 5, the U.S. said that 804,338 people chose plans -- the biggest week of sign-ups since the markets opened on Nov. 1. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services expects that millions more will be enrolled when people who had coverage for 2015 are automatically renewed this month, and when state-run markets, including California and New York, report their totals. (Tracer, 12/9)