New customers accounted for more than half of the Kansans who enrolled in health care coverage using the Affordable Care Act’s online health insurance marketplace this year, following national trends.

According to a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were just over 50,000 new customers, about 52 percent, in Kansas who purchased coverage during the three-month open enrollment period — and an additional weeklong period for those who experienced website problems. The state produced a total of over 96,000 customers over that time.

A second special enrollment period, for those who were unaware of the financial penalty levied against those without health insurance, will run from March 15 to April 30.

Of the remaining Kansas consumers this year, about 23,400 Kansans manually re-enrolled in coverage (updating their information or selecting a new plan, for example) using the federal marketplace, while 26,400 were automatically re-enrolled.

Nationally, 8.84 million Americans in the 37 states using the HealthCare.Gov website enrolled in coverage by Feb. 22. About 4.67 million, or 53 percent, were new customers, while 2.21 million manually renewed coverage.

“This is a much higher proportion of active plan selections than what we’ve seen in other programs such as Medicare or an employer’s sponsored coverage,” said Kevin Griffis, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in the Health and Human Services Department. “Marketplace place consumers took charge of their health care.”

Last year, about 57,000 Kansans enrolled in the federal marketplace’s debut, which was complicated by a faulty website. About 7.75 million Americans signed up the same year.

Those who did not sign up before the February deadline may still be able to find coverage this spring. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced there will be a special enrollment period from March 15 to April 30 for those without coverage and who were unaware or didn’t understand the penalties for not receiving coverage.

The special period is available to those living in the 37 states using the federal marketplace. Customers must attest that they did not understand or know about the penalty until after the Feb. 15 open enrollment deadline.

Customers during this period who do not have an exemption will still have to pay a fee for the months they spent uninsured. The fine increases to either 2 percent of their yearly household income or $325 per person within their household, whichever is higher, in 2015.

Opportunities for assistance can be found at InsureKS.org.