As of February 25, 2014, approximately 4 million people have enrolled in a health plan through the health insurance Marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and approximately 1.85 million people have enrolled since January 1st alone. While the low OctoberDecember 2013 enrollment likely reflects a lack of awareness of the ACA combined with early technical problems with the federal eligibility and enrollment system (i.e., HealthCare.gov) and the state-based Marketplaces, the most recent estimates provide some optimism on the viability of the Marketplaces. This brief complements Marketplace enrollment data by providing information about who looked or was planning to look for health coverage in the Marketplaces during the first two to three months of the rollout, as well as why and how they looked for information.

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