Missouri health-care enrollment nearly doubles in last week

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- More than 110,000 residents in Missouri enrolled in health insurance under the federal health-care law between Dec. 10 and 15, putting the final number of those enrolled over last year's.

The Columbia Missourian previously reported Missouri was falling behind last year's numbers, with initial figures suggesting enrollment decreased by almost half. Those numbers didn't include data for the final week of open enrollment.

But the newspaper stated updated figures from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services show nearly 245,600 people in Missouri had enrolled by the last day of the season.

The latest figure is nearly 1,200 more people than last year.

The federal government announced Thursday about 8.8 million people nationwide have signed up for coverage next year under the health-care law.

Information from: Columbia Missourian, http://www.columbiamissourian.com