Analysts say 6 million healthcare enrollees in sight

The government will meet — and possibly exceed — its goal of 6 million people enrolled in insurance through the federal and state health exchanges by the March 31 deadline, analysts said Wednesday. "It's clear that March is going to be better than February," said Dan Mendelson, CEO of Avalere Health, a health care consulting firm. "They could do something over six." On Tuesday, 1.2 million people visited HealthCare.gov, and the website was able to handle the volume, said Julie Bataille, communication director for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She said the government expected "unprecedented demand," and the website could handle as many as 100,000 people at a time.