Massachusetts: ~260K QHPs, up 6% vs. last year; only 3% away from breaking record!

Excellent news out of Massachusetts! I haven't posted any updates from the Bay State since 11/15, when they reported enrollments were up 40% year over year, but today they've given me very comprehensive and up-to-date numbers:

As of Dec. 6, we had a total of 259,815 plan selections and enrollments. This includes auto renewal of existing members. Of that, 26,074 are people who are new for 2018.

For comparison sake, for Dec. 6, 2016, we were at 244,845, and 25,746 for the new. These numbers also includes auto renewal, of course.

Obviously when you throw auto-renewals into the mix, the percentage increase drops substantially, but they're still up 6% over last year (nearly 15,000 people), and new enrolles are up about 1%.

In terms of final enrollment numbers, MA's official tally for 2017 was 266,664, so they're less than 3% from matching that record...and remember that Massachusetts is one of the 9 states with a deadline beyond the official 12/15 one: People can still enroll all the way through January 23rd, although they need to sign up by December 23rd if they want their coverage to start January 1st.