NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) - With the clock ticking, President Obama's point person on health care reform stopped in New Orleans Thursday afternoon to encourage locals to sign up for health insurance through the federal government's website, healthcare.gov. The deadline for enrollment to avoid a federal penalty is March 31.

"There's a big need in this state," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Before the rollout of healthcare.gov in October, the federal government put the number of uninsured Louisiana residents at close to 800,000.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in the New Orleans area, the number of enrollees has climbed to close to 20,000.

"And as of March 1, because of the work of many of the people who are in this room, 17,000 individuals in the New Orleans and Metairie area have enrolled," said Landrieu, who attended the media event along with Sebelius.

Local Democrats showed off a young entrepreneur who recently signed up for coverage through healthcare.gov. Chris Merritt said he had been without coverage for five years and thinks health care reform is necessary to get more people covered.

"My monthly payment is $52.72 a month," Merritt said.

But despite Merritt's story, Sebelius conceded that it remains a challenge to get young people to sign up for health insurance.

"A lot of younger, healthier Americans don't get up every day thinking 'what I really need is health care,' so we're trying to be creative with outreach," she said.

Healthy young adults are needed in the health care reform marketplace to keep it viable.

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Health Secretary Sebelius pushes health care reform in La.