CT health insurance numbers see surge in numbers

In the past two weeks, health insurance enrollees in Connecticut have increased by more than 50 percent, Jason Madrak, chief marketing officer for the state-run online exchange, told The CT Mirror. That statistic brings the total number of applicants to nearly 1,400 a day. If current trends continue, an estimated 50,000-60,000 shoppers will be signed up for coverage before the year's end.

Altogether, approximately 37,000 residents have applied for coverage through the state's online exchange portal, marking a 58 percent jump from numbers as recent as Dec. 4., the Mirror reported. 

"We are moving along at a very brisk pace as it relates to actually enrolling people in coverage," Madrak said to state healthcare officials during a meeting, according to the Mirror.

According to Stateline, state-run health insurance markets, such as the one demonstrated in Connecticut, can serve as models for other states that plan to launch their own websites in 2014. The same has been said for other states like Kentucky, which prided its marketplace's simplicity. 

"Our system doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles," said Carrie Banahan, executive director of the Kentucky exchange, according to Stateline. "There aren't a lot of graphics that would take a lot of bandwidth."