The healthcare enrollment story is in the states

The Obama administration announced this week that 8.6 million people had signed up for coverage in the 37 states using HealthCare.gov and estimated that an additional 2.8 million had signed up in states operating their own exchanges during the Affordable Care Act open-enrollment season that closed Sunday. The vast majority of those who signed up are expected to pay their premiums and enroll in insurance plans. Beneath these numbers lies significant variation in the enrollment experiences in the states using HealthCare.gov. The aggregate national enrollment figures get a lot of attention in Washington and in the media amid the ongoing debate about the health-care law–but the state numbers can be more revealing.