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One Week Left For Affordable Care Act To Meet Enrollment Goals

By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- This is the final week of open enrollment in health insurance through the Affordable Care Act for this year --and insurers and advocates are making a big push to get the uninsured to sign up.

As of the end of January, more than 224,000 people in the Philadelphia-area have selected a plan through the health insurance marketplace, but health officials and advocates hope to boost that number.

"February 15th is the deadline to get signed up for health coverage through the marketplace and we don't want folks to hold on too long and delay," says Neil Deegan, Pennsylvania director for Enroll America. "We will be doing enrollments at various locations through the week including during the final weekend, (February) 14th and 15th, at Methodist hospital."

Independence Blue Cross, which got the lion's share of business through the marketplace, last year, will also be offering assistance all week with its mobile unit in Bala Cynwyd and all next weekend at its 1901 Market Street headquarters in Center City.

Last year, there was a rush to sign up in the final week and Paula Sunshine of Blue Cross expects there will be a similar phenomenon this time.

"We expect to have a big surge as we get toward the deadline, much as we did last year. We are on track to hit our new member projections," Sunshine says. "People respond to deadlines, so we expect to finish strong."

There's extra incentive to get signed up this year: the penalty for not having insurance increases.

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