OBAMA: More Than Half A Million People Have Signed Up For Obamacare In December

AP

President Barack Obama said in his end-of-year press conference Friday that more than 500,000 people had enrolled in health insurance plans on the federal health care website through the first three weeks of December.

"For all the challenges we've had ... more than half a million Americans have enrolled in HealthCare.gov through the first three weeks of December alone," Obama said. "Millions of Americans are now poised to be covered by quality, affordable health insurance come New Year's Day."

A senior administration official confirmed that in total, more than 1 million people in total had signed up for health insurance on both federal and state exchanges.

But already, December's enrollment numbers mark a surge in sign-ups. Only about 137,000 people in total had signed up for insurance through HealthCare.gov in October and November combined.

The surge is a reflection of trends nationally. In California this month, for example, enrollment has spiked significantly. In the first three days of this week alone, more than 50,000 people signed up on the state's exchange.

When asked about any regrets he had this year during the end-of-year press conference, Obama cited the initial rollout of the Affordable Care Act.

"We screwed it up," he said.