Feds estimate that 1.1 million more people will sign up on Obamacare exchanges in 2017

About 1.1 million more people are projected to sign up for health insurance on the Obamacare exchanges for 2017, according to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. The agency estimates that 13.8 million people will sign up in 2017, compared to 12.7 million in 2016, Toni Clarke reports for Reuters. Officials said "average monthly enrollment in 2017 is estimated at 11.4 million people, up from 10.5 million people in 2016."

"Enrollment has been about half of what was initially expected and some large insurers this year have said they were losing too much money on the exchanges because of that and the fact that enrollees are older and sicker than expected," Clarke writes. "Aetna and UnitedHealth Group have largely pulled out of the exchanges for 2017."

Officials said "there are 10.7 million uninsured people who are eligible for the exchanges but unenrolled," Clarke writes. About 40 percent of those people are 18 to 34 years old. (Read more)