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| President Obama aims to rally support for healthcare | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| US President Barack Obama will attempt to rally support for his healthcare law and stem a wave of bad publicity over his flagship domestic achievement. | |
| He will be joined soon by Americans who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act, according to the White House. | |
| The new healthcare website, which sells medical insurance, is now working at acceptable levels after its disastrous launch, says the administration. | The new healthcare website, which sells medical insurance, is now working at acceptable levels after its disastrous launch, says the administration. |
| The act aims to provide health coverage to some 15% of US citizens who lack it. | The act aims to provide health coverage to some 15% of US citizens who lack it. |
| At 14:30 local time (19:30 GMT), Mr Obama will seek to remind Americans that under his health programme, insurers can no longer deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, and young people can now stay on their parents' coverage until age 26. | At 14:30 local time (19:30 GMT), Mr Obama will seek to remind Americans that under his health programme, insurers can no longer deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, and young people can now stay on their parents' coverage until age 26. |
| He will discuss the intensive efforts to repair the healthcare.gov website, which has been a flop since it went online on 1 October. | He will discuss the intensive efforts to repair the healthcare.gov website, which has been a flop since it went online on 1 October. |
| The White House is also due to hold a youth summit on Wednesday, in the latest attempt to promote the law among the young and healthy, a demographic crucial to the strategy of reducing overall healthcare costs. | The White House is also due to hold a youth summit on Wednesday, in the latest attempt to promote the law among the young and healthy, a demographic crucial to the strategy of reducing overall healthcare costs. |
| It is part of a multi-pronged effort by the administration to counter the Republican argument that the act known on both sides of the political divide as Obamacare is "a train wreck". | |
| The law's problems have sent Mr Obama's job approval ratings plunging and threaten to damage fellow Democrats in next year's congressional elections. | The law's problems have sent Mr Obama's job approval ratings plunging and threaten to damage fellow Democrats in next year's congressional elections. |
| 'Floodgates are open' | 'Floodgates are open' |
| Elsewhere in Washington DC on Tuesday, the White House's chief of staff told a public policy forum that more than one million new visitors had logged on to healthcare.gov on Monday. | |
| Denis McDonough said the website's new queuing system, used in times of high traffic, worked "pretty well". | Denis McDonough said the website's new queuing system, used in times of high traffic, worked "pretty well". |
| "No matter what, we're going to see this thing through," Mr McDonough said. | |
| He did not provide updated figures for how many people had signed up for insurance plans. | |
| The administration aims to enrol seven million people in insurance plans before the end of March, when all Americans are required to have coverage or pay a fine. | |
| But problems reportedly persist. Insurers says they are receiving enrolment forms that have errors or are duplicated, while others go missing altogether. | But problems reportedly persist. Insurers says they are receiving enrolment forms that have errors or are duplicated, while others go missing altogether. |
| "So far we've been able to deal with these issues because there's been relatively low volume," Daniel Durham, of industry lobby group America's Health Insurance Plans, told Reuters news agency. | "So far we've been able to deal with these issues because there's been relatively low volume," Daniel Durham, of industry lobby group America's Health Insurance Plans, told Reuters news agency. |
| "But now that the floodgates are open… we're going to see a lot more volume and health plans just don't have the personnel to do all [the technical fixes] manually." | "But now that the floodgates are open… we're going to see a lot more volume and health plans just don't have the personnel to do all [the technical fixes] manually." |
| On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor accused the administration of trying to cover up the law's problems. | |
| "What else are they hiding?" he told a news conference. | "What else are they hiding?" he told a news conference. |
| "While the White House wants to claim that healthcare.gov is now working, we know that Obamacare is still plagued with problems and every American deserves relief from it." | "While the White House wants to claim that healthcare.gov is now working, we know that Obamacare is still plagued with problems and every American deserves relief from it." |