More than 29,000 Iowans sign up for insurance on marketplace

More than 29,000 Iowans enrolled in the government's health insurance marketplace, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported Thursday,

The report found that between October 2013 and March 2014, 29,163 people signed up on Iowa's health exchange, which is a partnership with the federal government.

The report showed that 84 percent of Iowans who signed up for insurance on the exchange qualified for government subsidies.

Nationwide, 8,019,763 people chose private health plans on the marketplace. Of those more than 8 million people, HHS said about 2.6 million signed up on state-based marketplaces while 5.4 million signed up through the federally facilitated marketplace.

After initial problems with Healthcare.gov and a rocky start, the White House touted the final enrollment numbers. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said they 'exceeded expecatitions” in a news release.

In addition to those signing up for private insurance through Healthcare.gov, more than 4.8 million individuals nationwide enrolled in Medicaid and related services through the end of March, compared with enrollment before the marketplace opened in October 2012.

In Iowa, there were an additional 78,860 people who enrolled in Medicaid and related services.

A demographic breakdown of state enrollees shows that about 27 percent, or 7,881, of enrollees were between 18 and 35 years old - the 'young invincibles” the Obama administration worked hard to sign up.

There were 28 percent, or 2.2 million, young invincibles who signed up nationwide.

The federal marketplace also reported the race and ethnicity of its enrollees for the first time Thursday. It found:

'31 percent did not report their race or ethnicity

'62.9 percent are white

'16.7 percent are black

'10.7 percent are Latino

'7.9 percent are Asian.

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