More than 600k people signed up for the ACA in week one

The first week of Affordable Care Act open enrollment for next year was strong, with more than 601,000 people signing up for health coverage, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Of those, more than 137,000 were new customers, and more than 464,000 were people renewing their plans.

Context: Last year, ACA open enrollment signups in the first 12 days totaled over 1 million.

Why it matters: This year's early enrollment appears to be faster than last year's, revealing that the ACA is definitely not dead yet. However, it's important to note that the 2018 enrollment is only for six weeks, as opposed to three months last year — so it doesn't really tell us what the final numbers will be.