SACRAMENTO, Calif. —California's new health insurance exchange tentatively enrolled 35,000 people during its first month of operation, a fraction of the eventual goal in the state with the nation's largest uninsured population.
A report released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also showed that California determined about 80,000 lower-income people would be eligible for expanded Medicaid coverage under the national health care overhaul.
California counts nearly 7 million people without health coverage. An estimated 2.3 million are expected to enroll in a health plan through the new agency, known as Covered California, by 2017.
Earlier this month Covered California said about 2.5 million people had visited its website.
