WASHINGTON - Ruth Titus, a 59-year-old cook from Taos, N.M., leaped at the opportunity in July to sign up for health insurance under a new federally subsidized program for uninsured people with health problems. With her history of bladder cancer, she said, ‘it was hopeless to even look’ for private coverage because she’d be turned down.

Titus is one of what some officials say has been an unexpectedly small number of people to sign up for the program, which the Obama administration touted as an early benefit of the new health overhaul law. It began last month in 30 states with the expectation that many thousands of uninsured people would apply for the opportunity to get comprehensive coverage regardless of their health status, but that hasn’t been the case.

About 3,600 people have applied and about 1,200 have been approved so far in state plans that started in the beginning of July, according to data from the states and federal government. Officials say that the new plans, although they’re a better deal than anything comparable on the private market, still may be unaffordable for many people. Eligibility requirements are another possible barrier, and states have had little time to publicize the […]