MMarch 25 (Bloomberg) -- ore than 1.1 million people visited the federal Obamacare website yesterday, the second most ever, as Americans try to beat a March 31 deadline to obtain health insurance or risk a fine.

Under the health-care law, Americans who aren’t insured by the end of March may have to pay a penalty equal to 1 percent of their income. The federal turnout was mirrored in states. Washington’s exchange enrolled 12,000 people last week and almost 1,200 signed up yesterday in Connecticut, the states reported.

“The expected surge in last-minute enrollments has begun,” said Richard Onizuka, the chief executive officer for the Olympia-based Washington Health Benefit Exchange.