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The Obama administration on Tuesday reported a big increase in new customers signing up for health insurance in Florida, Texas and other states using the federal insurance marketplace. But in states running their own insurance exchanges, the numbers were more modest. ... The report showed the importance of subsidies to people seeking coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Officials said that 87 percent of those selecting health plans for next year in the federal exchange had qualified for subsidies that would reduce their premiums. (Pear, 12/30)

As of Dec. 26, 6.5 million people signed up for coverage in federally run exchanges — that includes new enrollments, people actively re-enrolling and existing customers who allowed their coverage to automatically renew, according to the Department of Health and Human Services' weekly enrollment update. A second HHS report, which provides the most comprehensive look at the new enrollment period so far, found that 633,000 people selected coverage in the 14 states running their own health insurance marketplaces as of Dec. 15. That's in addition to those who signed up through the federal exchanges, for a total of roughly 7.1 million. (Millman, 12/30)

At least half of Kansans and Missourians who signed up for 2015 health insurance through the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces are new consumers, according to recently released data. (Margolies, 1/2)

The outrage was swift and loud. Millions of people were feared to be in danger of losing their health insurance last year because their plans did not comply with the Affordable Care Act. To keep people covered and quell consumer anger, President Barack Obama and many states allowed people to renew their old plans temporarily — including 73,000 in Maryland. But that offer has expired and now people like Raymond Liu have been thrust onto health exchanges where they must purchase new plans. (Cohn, 1/4)

In many ways, Kentucky, a poor state with a starkly unhealthy populace, has become a symbol of the Affordable Care Act’s potential. Largely because the state chose to expand Medicaid, the drop in the uninsured rate has been among the sharpest in the nation. Hospital revenues are up, health care jobs are multiplying and far more Kentuckians are getting preventive checkups and screenings, according to state officials. (Goodnough, 12/29)

A technology company says it will lay off more than 1,500 employees at a Boise call center where workers handle questions about the federal health care law. The Idaho Statesman reports that Maximus Inc. has hired, laid off and rehired hundreds of employees at the call center since 2013. (1/3)