Burwell: Obamacare enrollment is off to "an encouraging start"

Open enrollment season in the government's health insurance program has begun--6.4 million people have signed up on healthcare.gov for health insurance that goes into effect Jan. 1. The administration called it "an encouraging start" but said there is still a lot of work to be done before the enrollment period ends on Feb. 15. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in a press conference Tuesday that of those who signed up, 1.9 million were new customers, and 4.5 million renewed existing coverage. She estimated between 30-40% of customers came back and re-enrolled, but cautioned that number is not final. The numbers for state exchanges will be released next week.