Nearly 200,000 Ohioans have already re-enrolled or newly signed up for individual health insurance on the Affordable Care Act's marketplace this season.
Trey Daly, the Ohio State director for Enroll America, says this year is different than last when about 155,000signed up.
"What we found last year, was there was mostly bad news in the news and that may have discouraged some people from actually attempting to enroll. But so far this year, we're seeing a great deal of assistance," Daly says.
Nearly 40 percent of those who have signed up are enrolling for the first time. And 84 percent are getting financial help with their premiums, according to a federal release this week.
Daly says he expects the final days before the February 15 deadline to be busy.
"We're finding there is a tremendous amount of interest in getting enrollment assistance to help folks through the enrollment process, so the community has come together to plan a lot of events during these last two weeks," Daly says.
And for those who haven't signed up, Cleveland navigator Rachel Degolia warns the process does take time.
"For marketplace enrollment, we make a minimum of one-hour appointment," DeGolia says. "And very frequently, people need to come back a second or even a third time because they need to think about it."
Enrollment events are planned across Northeast Ohio today at locations including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Cuyahoga Community College Eastern College and an open house at United Way of Greater Cleveland on Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland.