NASHVILLE (AP) — Nearly 60,000 Tennesseans signed up for coverage under the federal health insurance exchange through January, a 65 percent increase since the beginning of year.

According to nationwide statistics released Monday, 3.3 million people signed up from last Oct. 1 through Feb. 1.

Of those who have signed up in Tennessee, adults ages 55 to 64 made up 33 percent of the total, while young adults between 18 and 34 made up 25 percent. Independent experts say that total needs to be closer to 40 percent to control costs.

Seventy percent of enrollees selected the mid-level silver plan, while 16 percent chose the lowest bronze level. Gold-level polices made up 9 percent, and the top-level platinum policies made up 5 percent.

About 36,000 people had signed up through December.