Obama: 6 million people signed up for health insurance

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says 6 million people have signed up for coverage under his health care law so far this year.

Officials say that shows the program is strong and providing consumers with a valuable service.

Thursday was the deadline to enroll for coverage that takes effect Jan. 1.

Through Thursday, 6 million people had signed up in the 38 states using the HealthCare.gov website.

Of these, 2.4 million were new customers. Officials say that's well ahead of new sign-ups at this time last year.

Despite the latest numbers, the administration is not revising its overall enrollment target, which is 10 million paying customers by the end of 2016. That would be a modest gain over this year.

Jan. 31 is the last day to enroll or face potential fines.