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Healthcare.gov stumbles twice on deadline day Healthcare.gov stumbles twice on deadline day
(35 minutes later)
The online federal health insurance marketplace, HealthCare.gov, has been pushed beyond its capacity for the second time on Monday, as Americans around the country are racing to sign up for health plans before a midnight deadline. The online federal health insurance marketplace, HealthCare.gov, was closed to new customers for two different periods of time on Monday, as Americans around the country race to sign up for health plans before a midnight deadline. Officials blamed a midday shutdown primarily on capacity issues, while an early morning delay was attributed to software problems.
Shortly after noon, new visitors to the Web site began to be greeted with a screen saying, “We need you to wait here, so we can make sure there’s room for you to have a good experience on our site.” The screen inviting them to leave email addresses so that they could be contacted when the volume lessened, although it was unclear whether that would be later today or after the official deadline. Shortly after noon, visitors arriving for the first time to the Web site began to be greeted with a screen saying, “We need you to wait here, so we can make sure there’s room for you to have a good experience on our site.” The screen invited them to leave email addresses so that they could be contacted when the volume lessened, although it was unclear whether that would be later today or after the official deadline.
During this time, consumers have been unable to start new applications, although those who already are farther along in the steps towards enrolling are able to continue, according to Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency overseeing the new insurance exchange. By about 1:30 p.m., the site began to reopen, although access to it remained intermittent.
The pause in new sign-ups comes as a record number of people on Monday flooded a network of call centers for help in getting insurance through the marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act. By noon on Monday, the centers logged 350,000 callers, roughly triple the volume on the second-highest day, Dec. 23, as the deadline approached for people to choose health plans in time for their coverage to start on New Year’s Day. Earlier on Monday morning, HealthCare.gov also had troubles. Because of a software problem, technical support workers kept the site down until a few minutes after 8 a.m. — about three hours after the site was scheduled to reopen after routine nightly maintenance. During that interval, consumers were unable to start new applications, although those who already were farther along in the steps towards enrollment were able to continue, according to Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency overseeing the new insurance exchange.
The midday troubles were caused primarily by the volume of people trying to sign up, said a federal health official, speaking on condition of anonymity about information that has not been made public.
At noon, 109,000 people at once were on HealthCare.gov, twice as many as the day before, according to federal health officials.
The pauses in new sign-ups have come as record numbers of people on Monday also flooded a network of call centers for help in getting insurance through the marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act. By noon on Monday, the centers logged 350,000 callers, roughly triple the volume on the second-highest day, Dec. 23, as the deadline approached for people to choose health plans in time for their coverage to start on New Year’s Day. Earlier on Monday morning, HealthCare.gov also had troubles. Because of a software problem, technical support workers kept the site down until a few minutes after 8 a.m. — about three hours after the site was scheduled to reopen after routine nightly maintenance.
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