The latest chapter in the never-ending story of Obamacare expectations ends happily for the president, whose administration reported on Thursday that more people than anticipated enrolled in health care plans through the marketplace exchanges this year.

A total of 12.7 million Americans signed up for exchange plans before the Jan. 31 deadline, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell announced. That’s smack in the middle of the administration’s prediction that 11-14 million would sign up.

Of that total, 9.6 million purchased insurance through the federally-operated exchange, Healthcare.gov, while 3.1 million got plans through the 13 state-run exchanges.

Four million of the enrollees were new to the exchange; the rest were returning customers.

“The Marketplace is growing and getting stronger and the ACA has become a crucial part of health care in America,” said Burwell in a statement.

HHS also noted that because of improvements to its website, the enrollment figures it announced reflected the actual number of people who signed up for insurance and were approved. In the past, the reported enrollment numbers may have been overstated, since they did not take into account those who were ultimately not approved, either because they cancelled the policy themselves or because they were denied by an insurer.

HHS also highlighted the unique programs that New York and Minnesota have implemented to provide low-cost insurance to the poorest individuals eligible to buy insurance on the marketplace exchange. Both states have directed the federal subsidies available to those between 138 percent and 200 percent of the federal poverty level into “basic health plans” that offer plans that often cost less than $20 a month and have much lower out-of-pocket costs than plans on the marketplace.

The department also touted the improved operation of the federal marketplace. During the entire open enrollment period, the federal exchange received more than 14.5 million calls, including over 930,000 in Spanish. The average wait time for calls was more than 10 minutes, but Spanish speakers waited only 26 seconds on average.

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12.7 million sign up for PPACA plans

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