Customers who buy plans on private health insurance exchange eHealth are taking advantage of their newfound ability to purchase an extended short-term insurance policy without triggering the individual mandate penalty, newly released data from the company shows.

Many more eHealth customers opted for short-term plans over unsubsidized Affordable Care Act-compliant plans during the first half of the ACA open enrollment period for 2019 coverage than during the previous open enrollment, eHealth said.