ObamaCare sign-ups gain steam as 2018 deadline nears

NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 1.07 million consumers selected 2018 Obamacare individual insurance plans on the HealthCare.gov website during the week ended Dec. 9, the U.S. government reported on Wednesday, indicating a pick up in the pace of enrollment as the Dec. 15 deadline nears.

Of the consumers who signed up, 388,984 were new to the Obamacare individual insurance program, with both figures increasing from the previous week when 823,180 people signed up in all.

That brings the total so far to 4.68 million consumers ahead of the deadline for 2018 enrollment in the 39 states that use the federally run HealthCare.gov website. The remaining states and Washington D.C. run their own programs and set their own deadlines.

(Reporting by Caroline Humer; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)