New federal statistics show Washington state has signed more people up for health insurance since open enrollment began Oct. 1 than any state other than New York and California.
Just over 7,000 people have selected a marketplace health insurance plan in Washington state. Another 48,000 or so found out they are eligible for free insurance under Medicaid. And another 64,000 have completed applications for insurance, but have not finished the sign up process.
Numbers coming in from California show that much larger state has nearly twice as many people going through the process right now and a total of more than 35,000 completed applications. New York's numbers are not as complete, but that large state is reporting more than 16,000 insurance sign-ups. The next most successful state marketplaces after Washington are in Kentucky and Connecticut.
Numbers from the states using the federal marketplace are trail behind Washington and these others.