Maryland’s health insurance marketplace saw a 16% growth in enrollments during its open season period, marking the seventh year in a row that the state has seen increased membership in state-based health plans.

Nearly a quarter of a million people signed up for health insurance from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15 using Maryland Health Connection, the state’s insurance marketplace.

Maryland saw a 21% increase in young adults aged 18 to 37 signing up for plans, with nearly 90,000 opting in.

“This is important because young adults are among the most likely populations to go without health insurance. They make up more than 40% of the uninsured population in Maryland,” said Michele Eberle, executive director of Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, which operates Maryland Health Connection. “Because young adults are healthier on average, that holds down premium costs for everyone. And it is important for their own sake as young adults have experienced greater incidents of mental health and substance abuse problems for which they can be treated with health coverage.”

Black and Hispanic communities also saw growth in health plan enrollment.

Black consumers grew by 23% to more than 51,000 people and Hispanic consumers grew by 25% with almost 36,000 people.

This year was the first year DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers, could opt in for state-based health insurance, about 250 people with that status got plans this year.

DACA recipients are people who were brought to the United States as children and have received a high school degree or served in the military. While they are allowed to stay in the U.S. legally, they aren’t technically citizens. That creates a mess of legal gray areas for them, including receiving benefits through the ACA marketplace.

However, those plans may be in jeopardy after Judge Daniel Traynor put a stay on a case challenging the federal government’s ability to enforce a rule that would allow DACA recipients to buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

The stay allows the 19 Republican-led states challenging the rule to put off providing insurance plans to DACA recipients.

“Although it's not the final legal conclusion, per se, the judge is basically saying, ‘I've got enough here as a legal matter to think that you have a pretty good, a better than 50% chance of prevailing, in my view,’” said Joel Michaels and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Cary School of Law.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced Wednesday that Maryland, along with 13 other states, are filing a motion to intervene to allow DACA recipients to continue signing up for insurance through the marketplace.

“The United States is the only home that Dreamers know. They were brought to this country when they were too young to have a say in where they wanted to live,” Brown said. “Dreamers should not be denied the opportunity to purchase high-quality, affordable health care coverage because of a decision their loved ones made for them when they came to the U.S.”

The court case involving DACA recipients’ ability to sign up for health care is still ongoing.