The country's biggest private health insurance exchange, eHealthInsurance, saw applications for individual and family plans increase by 49.5 percent to 169,800 in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Gary Lauer, CEO of eHealthInsurance, said the open enrollment period for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges "drove significant demand," even though eHealthInsurance is not connected with the PPACA marketplaces, according to a USA Today report.
Like the PPACA marketplaces, eHealthInsurance lists sales quotes for various health plans and allows consumers to apply online for coverage.
Mr. Lauer said none of the new customers came through the state or federal exchanges. People who became frustrated with the glitches that plagued the federal exchange site, HealthCare.gov, may have become frustrated and turned to eHealthInsurance instead, he told USA Today.
Enrollment in the PPACA exchanges reached nearly 3.3 million as of Feb. 1, according to HHS. That includes 1.4 million people who enrolled through the state-based marketplaces and 1.9 million who signed up through the federal exchange.
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