The Congressional Budget Office has dramatically lowered its projections for enrollment in health care plans on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act marketplace. 

The nonpartisan agency now estimates that enrollment in Obamacare plans will total 13 million at the end of 2016, down roughly 40 percent from its previous projection of 20 million enrollees. 

The CBO estimate reaffirms what experts have been saying since at least last year, which is that attracting new members is getting more and more difficult. The low-hanging fruit — those who were the most enthusiastic about getting insurance — was largely taken care of during the first open enrollment period at the end of 2013. 

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