Since Gov. Martin O’Malley declared that the state’s health insurance exchange website was functional for most users, anecdotal reports have been mixed. Some people report continued problems with frozen screens and other glitches that have bedeviled the site; others say they were finally able to enroll with relative ease. The preliminary numbers of new enrollments, though, suggest some genuine improvement. Monday saw about 1,100 enrollments, nearly 50 percent more than the site’s best day before the fixes went into place. Some of that is doubtless because, with a looming deadline to enroll in coverage that starts Jan. 1, those who have been shopping for policies have finally made their selections. But improvements to the website must also play a role.

That said, the pace of enrollments is still far too low. If the exchange is able to replicate its best weekday and weekend performance during every one of the 104 days between now and the end of the open enrollment period on March 31, Maryland will still only achieve about three-quarters of its goal of signing up 150,000 people with private coverage. The site may be better, but better isn’t good enough.

Under those circumstances, the question raised by Rep. John Delaney, a Montgomery County Democrat, about whether it would be better for Maryland to scrap its effort to build its own exchange and instead join the federal one has merit. Indeed, Gov. Martin O’Malley acknowledged on Monday that the option — and all others — remain on the table.