Arizona health insurance enrollment numbers top 170,000

PHOENIX (AP) - The number of Arizonans signing up for health insurance on the federal marketplace has surpassed last year's total by nearly 55,000 people.

The enrollment figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Health & Human Services Department show more than 174,000 people signed up for a new plan or had an existing plan that renewed.

In the first Affordable Care Act open enrollment period that ended last March 31, 120,000 Arizonans signed up.

The department for the first time provided a breakdown for the state's two major metropolitan areas. Nearly 120,000 people in metropolitan Phoenix signed up for insurance, while the Tucson area had more than 27,000 signups.

This year's open enrollment period ends Feb. 15. Those without coverage who don't enroll will have to wait for next year to get coverage.