The fact that Affordable Care Act enrollments are spiking in states that have functioning exchange websites of their own is great news for the law and for the many thousands of people who will be newly, or better, insured come Jan. 1.

But it also reinforces my sense that Healthcare.gov’s failure will create a really remarkable dichotomy.

From the L.A. Times:

A number of states that use their own systems, including California, are on track to hit enrollment targets for 2014 because of a sharp increase in November, according to state officials.

“What we are seeing is incredible momentum,” said Peter Lee, director of Covered California, the nation’s largest state insurance marketplace, which accounted for a third of all enrollments nationally in October. California — which enrolled about 31,000 people in health plans last month — nearly doubled that in the first two weeks of this month.

Several other states, including Connecticut and Kentucky, are outpacing their enrollment estimates, even as states that depend on the federal website lag far behind.

We now have pretty solid evidence that Obama administration officials are correct when they claim that the demand for insurance under the Affordable Care Act is substantial, but trapped behind the malfunctioning website.

We also know that there will be a large, if somewhat balkanized constituency for Affordable Care Act insurance next year no matter what happens with Healthcare.gov.

But this report is just devastating for — of all people — Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

As minority leader, and an in-cycle candidate with a primary challenger, he has to be leading the vanguard of Affordable Care Act opposition. But as a Kentucky senator, and a candidate with a general election opponent, he will soon be running on a platform of taking insurance away from tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of his own constituents.

Kentucky’s exchange — Kynect — is the gold standard for state-based exchanges, and has been since day 1. It has perhaps the highest functioning Obamacare marketplace, relative to uninsured population, of any state in the country.