Hawaii QHPs up to 5,400, daily avg. 24% higher in March than February

The overall story out of Hawaii is pretty ugly, but the QHP number is actually good news, given what a mess HI's exchange has been: QHP enrollments are up from 4,969 as of 3/08 to 5,400 as of yesterday, an increase of 431. While this isn't exactly worth cheering about, it does raise Hawaii's daily average up from 37/day in February to 46/day in March...a 24% increase.

Tom Matsuda, the interim executive director of the Hawaii Health Connector, told lawmakers at a Senate hearing Monday that the nonprofit is woefully behind its projections of individual enrollment, with only about 5,400 people fully through the process of buying coverage. While that number doesn't count those still in "a backup in the system," Matsuda said, it's far behind the projected pace of 50,000 enrollees through 2014 it would have needed to break even.

UPDATE: OK, the Hawaii Health Connector just released the formal data update. The actual number is 5,394, but the end date for that number is 3/15, not 3/17...which means they've added 425 in 7 days, or 61 per day, a significant increase for the state...which still won't move the needle much nationally...