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Nearly 290,000 Sign Up for Health Care in Maryland

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - The state of Maryland says 289,131 residents enrolled in health care in the second sign up period.

The state says 122,778 enrolled in private plans. Of those, 87,007 received an advanced premium tax credit. There were 35,771 enrolling in private plans without a subsidy.

There were 166,353 enrolled in Medicaid.

The state says 88 percent of applicants were determined eligible for financial assistance, either through Medicaid or subsidies for private plans. That's up from 80 percent a year ago.

Meanwhile, March 18 is a deadline for eligible consumers to entirely avoid the 2015 tax penalty for being uninsured. People who enroll between March 19 and April 30 may still owe a tax penalty for months they were uninsured in 2015, but they can avoid additional penalties if they sign up.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.