Continued problems with a new federal health care exchange have kept thousands of Wisconsin residents from being able to obtain coverage.
Numbers released by the Department of Health and Human Services show more than 19,000 Wisconsinites have completed applications through the federal website, which went online October First. Of those, only 877 have been able to finish the process and select a plan.
Nationwide, 26,794 people were able to enroll through the exchange during the first month. Those numbers do no reflect states that set up their own exchanges.
In total, the applications cover about 35,000 Wisconsin residents. HHS says about 22,000 of those individuals are actually eligible to enroll in a plan through the marketplace.
The state is relying on a federal exchange after Republicans in the Legislature rejected funding to have Wisconsin set up its own system. The federal website has had extensive problems since it launched, and officials hope to have those resolved by the end of this month. Open enrollment ends on December 15th.