– In the first month of the federal health care exchange, only 751 Missourians were able to successfully select a coverage plan as required by the 2010 health care law.

According to numbers released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, some 27,911 Missourians filled out applications to enroll in a health care plan, but only a sliver of those applicants made it all the way through to selecting a plan.

Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters that the numbers are bound to grow as the six-month long educational campaign rolls on.

“People tend to research their options… before making a purchase,” she said. “This data represents only a month in a six month, sustained outreach effort.”

Of the nearly 28,000 applicants, more than 20,000 were eligible to enroll in a marketplace plan on their own, while another 7,111 were able to receive financial assistance. Some 4,000 applicants were determined eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Plan.

Sebelius said some 26 million Americans have visited the site, showing Americans are “very interested” in finding coverage.

Ed Martin, chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, said in a statement the low numbers prove a failure of the federal program.

“These numbers pale in comparison to the millions of Americans losing the health coverage this President promised they could keep,” he said. “It is no wonder prominent Democrats around the country are distancing themselves from this trainwreck of a law.”

Enrollment numbers in states like Missouri that did not set up a state-level exchange pale in comparison to those states that did establish exchanges. In the 15 states that established their own exchanges, 79,000 successfully selected a plan, compared to 26,795 in the 36 states that did not.