More Than 17,000 in State Sign Up for Health Care

JACKSON (AP) – New figures show 17,350 Mississippi residents have signed up for private health insurance using a website run by the federal government.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday released the number of people in each state who enrolled in health coverage between Oct. 1 and Feb. 1.

The figures show 62 percent of the people who enrolled in Mississippi are women, and 38 percent are men. More than half are between age 45 and 64, while about a quarter are between 18 and 34.

Ninety-two percent of the Mississippians who bought coverage on the healthcare.gov website qualified to receive government subsidies to help pay for the coverage.

The online marketplaces, called health exchanges, were created by the health overhaul law signed by President Barack Obama.