Colorado: 24,811 QHPs thru 12/11/14 (UPDATE: 2/3 renewals, 1/3 new)

Until now, I've relied on states like Maryland, Massachusetts and Vermont, which have given out frequent 2015 enrollment updates, to point out how impressive the enrollment stats have been this time around; Maryland and Vermont are currently running at nearly 5x their 2014 pace, while Massachusetts is adding people at an astonishing 10x their 2014 rate.

However, these are pretty misleading, because all 3 of those states had such Godawful websites last year that it didn't take much to outperform this year.

Instead, consider states whose exchanges were already doing pretty well out of the gate last year, such as Colorado:

On the surface, this looks pretty good, but nothing jaw-dropping. 24,811 in 27 days is 919/day, or about a 50% improvement over 2014's 627/day.

However, break it out between the first 16 days and the next 11 and it's a different story:

• 11/15 - 11/30 (16 days): 9,780, or 611/day...slightly below the 2014 daily rate.
• 12/01 - 12/11 (11 days): 15,031, or 1,366/day...2.2x the 2014 daily rate.

For the record, the same trend can be found in another well-performing 2014 exchange, Kentucky; the difference isn't as noticable, but that's mainly because of the lopsided time breakout:

• 11/15 - 11/21 (7 days): 4,107 (586/day)
• 11/22 - 12/08 (17 days): 11,033 (649/day)

UPDATE: Here's the full press release from Colorado, which includes some other details...specifically, that the Renewal / New ratio in CO is roughly 2:1:

DENVER (Dec. 11, 2014)  — Connect for Health Colorado® announced Thursday that 24,811 individuals and families have signed up for health insurance coverage since the current enrollment period began Saturday, November 15.

“We are happy that so many Coloradans chose to protect their family’s health and financial security for 2015 by enrolling in coverage, but I want to urge others to complete their enrollments in time for January coverage,” said interim CEO Gary Drews. “It’s time to act right now.”

Current customers who wish to change their plans should do so by Monday, Dec. 15. Open Enrollment for new customers runs to February 15, 2015, but individuals buying new coverage need to choose a plan by Monday, December 15, to have health insurance effective January 1.

Some customers have encountered technical difficulties completing their sign up. Connect for Health Colorado will work with any of our customers who begin their enrollment by Dec. 15 to have their health insurance effective January 1.

Anyone who does not enroll for insurance by February 15 will not be able to get coverage in 2015 unless they have a life-changing event, like a marriage or divorce.

“I urge anyone who is not provided health insurance by their employer to shop now for a policy that meets their needs and their circumstances,” Drews said. “We know that this process can be complicated. That’s why we suggest Coloradans take advantage of free, in-person help available in every county of our state from a network of trained and certified Health Coverage Guides and Brokers. These are experts who can help explain the differences in plans, benefits and costs, and help you through the financial application and enrollment process.”

There are more than 1,600 independent brokers and agents, and more than 450 Health Coverage Guides and Certified Application Counselors. To find them in your area (search by zip code) go tohttp://connectforhealthco.com/help-center/

Of the 24,811 covered lives in the enrollment, about one-third are customers new to the state health insurance Marketplace and the rest are customers re-enrolling in coverage for 2015. In addition, 3,642 Coloradans have enrolled in dental insurance through the Marketplace.

By this date last year, Connect for Health Colorado’s first open enrollment period, 12,706 customers had selected health plans through the Marketplace.