Obamacare enrollment tally to surpass 7.5 million

More than 7.5 million people are expected to sign up for private health coverage this year under President Barack Obama's healthcare law, surpassing the 7.1 million total announced just last week, the top U.S. health official said on Thursday.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius attributed the larger tally to a special enrollment period that allows people who were unable to complete the application process by a March 31 deadline extra time to gain coverage.

"Four hundred thousand additional Americans have signed up and we expect that to continue to grow," she said in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee.

(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Chris Reese)