Missouri health enrollment up, but remains behind goal

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The number of Missouri residents using a federal website to enroll in health insurance is growing, but not as fast as had been projected.

Figures released Tuesday show nearly 75,000 people had enrolled in health policies by March 1. That's up by more than one-third from Feb. 1.

Yet Missouri lags behind the enrollment targets originally set for federal health care law. The March 1 number is about where Missouri was expected to be Feb. 1.

Missouri was projected to enroll 118,000 people by March 31.

Missouri is one of 36 states where the online insurance marketplace is being run by the federal government.

Health-care advocates intensified their efforts over last weekend to persuade people to sign up for the insurance policies.