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Nearly 3,700 Lawrence residents have signed up or automatically re-enrolled in a health plan using the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace this year, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — a number that’s being touted as an improvement over last year.

The report, which featured enrollment data from ZIP codes with 50 or more customers, said about 4,200 people in Douglas County had signed up or re-enrolled using the federally run marketplace as of Jan. 16. The final open enrollment deadline is Feb. 15.

Last year, Lawrence totaled 2,750 customers while Douglas County brought in 3,000 throughout the entire open enrollment period and an additional special enrollment period, according to Health and Human Services.

Across all of Kansas, about 80,000 consumers had selected or re-enrolled in a health plan so far this year. Health and Human Services said 42 percent of those are new consumers and 58 percent are re-enrollees. Eighty percent of Kansas consumers were eligible for financial assistance.

Nationally, 7.75 million people in the 37 states who use the federal marketplace have signed up or re-enrolled since Jan. 16.

Last year, with a dysfunctional website disrupting the marketplace, a total of 57,000 Kansans signed up through the entire enrollment period. Nationally, 5.4 million signed up.

“Definitely an impact has been made,” said Jordan Rickabaugh, the eastern Kansas navigator coordinator for the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved. “The numbers are much better than last year.”

Rickabaugh has said before that the increase in enrollment activity is attributable to a functioning website, better awareness and higher penalties for not signing up.

Those who haven’t signed up by Feb. 15 will face a fine — either 2 percent of their yearly household income or $325 per person within their household, whichever is higher.

Lawrence’s 66044 ZIP code produced about 1,200 customers, the fifth highest amount in Kansas. About 1,100 came out of another ZIP code in Lawrence, 66049, the seventh highest.

ZIP codes in Olathe took the top two spots, followed by areas in Overland Park and Salina to round out the top five.

The Cover Kansas Navigator Project will hold a health insurance marketplace enrollment event from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St. Certified navigators from the Lawrence area will be on hand to assist with the enrollment process.

Other opportunities for assistance can also be found at InsureKS.org.

Attendees should bring basic information about their family and household, including:

• Names, birth dates and Social Security numbers for everyone in the household.

• Projected household income for 2015.

• Tax information, such as filing status and number of dependents.

• Immigration documentation and supporting identification numbers.

• An email address will be required to create an online marketplace account. Assistance can be provided for those who need to create one.