After a tough first year, Arizona’s member-operated healthinsurance co-op is attracting droves of new members.

According to figures provided by the co-op, Meritus, thenonprofit insurer now covers 56,000 Arizonans, 28 percent of thetotal covered by plans on the federal exchange created by thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act in Arizona.

A numberof co-ops in different states were created in the wakeof the PPACA, financed by federal loans. The results have beenmixed. While a co-op created in New York enrolled fives times itstarget membership, most of the new insurers fell short of theirprojections. As a result, some of them simply didn't have enoughmoney to cover claims.

Meritus, according to a report last year by the Government Accountability Office, had only enrolled 4percent of its intended membership––869 people––by the end of 2014.The GOA attributed the poor performance to high premiums. Althoughthe company disputed those figures, saying it had enrolled 3,500members, it conceded that it had fallen far short of its enrollmentgoal.

Meritus vice president Veronica Piotrowski told the AssociatedPress that the company is doing much better now that more peopleknow about its unique model, which was hamstrung by uncertaintyover the bumpy implementation of the PPACA last year. The company has also lowered priceson many of its plans.

“We really felt that as we progressed that we had a product thatwas more widely known, Meritus was becoming more familiar to thecommunity,” she said. “And we have attractive pricing. That wasalso part of that recipe that really made us an attractive andvaluable selection for the community.”