The Associated Press

and Peninsula Daily News

SEATTLE — Officials say that by last week, more than 65,000 people had signed up for private insurance since Oct. 1 through the state’s new health care exchange.

That was an increase of about 4,000 people since the beginning of December. Another 69,000 people need to finish enrollment by paying.

The exchange had a goal of signing up 130,000 people into private insurance plans by Wednesday.

A county-by-county breakdown will be available next month, Washington Health Benefit Exchange communications director Michael Marchand said.

In November, 2,301 people in Jefferson and Clallam counties enrolled, compared with 1,390 in October, according to state data.

Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30, there were 3,691 people on the Peninsula who used the health care exchange to enroll in individual health plans and for free insurance through Medicaid.

In total, the number of people purchasing private insurance and those enrolling in free insurance through Medicaid is nearly 214,000.

More than 100,000 of those signing up are newly eligible to the expanded Medicaid.

Before health care reform went into effect, an estimated one million Washington residents did not have health insurance.

The exchange also updated numbers for their call center. In December, the call center handled about 20 percent of 230,000 calls that came in.