Sign-Ups Pick Up in Week Five of 2018 Obamacare Open Enrollment

The number of people signing up for 2018 Obamacare plans picked up significantly during the fifth week of open enrollment, a U.S. government agency reported on Wednesday, but the number of people signed up for such plans appears to be falling short of last year's numbers with just over a week of enrollment left.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said 823,180 people signed up for 2018 Obamacare individual insurance in the 39 states that use the federal government website Healthcare.gov for the week ended Dec. 2, up from 504,181 people in the previous week. About 3.6 million people so far have signed up for Obamacare plans using the federal website.