HealthCare.gov tops 1 million visitors; deadline extended

More than 1 million visitors logged into HealthCare.gov by late Monday, racing to meet the administration's new midnight, Christmas Eve deadline to enroll in health insurance.

Officials pushed back the Dec. 23 deadline by a day, acknowledging the site was still having problems signing people up. Earlier Monday, more than 60,000 people hit the landing page when it was too busy to accommodate them and left an email address so they could be alerted when the site wasn't busy, said Julie Bataille, spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Enrollment for plans under the Affordable Care Act is falling far below expectations, especially on the troubled federal website that is handling insurance sales for 36 states. But actual numbers won't be available until mid-February. The Congressional Budget Office projected 7 million people would sign up on the state and federal exchange by the end of 2014.

The deadline for Jan. 1 coverage was Monday, but because of high demand and to ensure everyone who attempts to sign up can, Bataille announced people would be able to enroll Dec. 24, as well.

"If you want insurance starting Jan. 1, you should sign up today," she said Monday. "But if you have trouble due to high demand, we will make sure we help you get signed up.

"Anticipating high demand and the fact that consumers may be enrolling from multiple time zones, we have taken steps to make sure that those who select a plan through tomorrow will get coverage for Jan. 1," she said.

The move was "too little too late," for the 70,000 insurance brokers racing to sign up clients for insurance on the exchange, said Jessica Waltman, the top lobbyist for the National Association of Health Underwriters. In Indianapolis, broker Susan Rider said wait times were down but glitches remained Monday, including challenges signing up consumers who were eligible for subsidies.

"We end up having to complete some of the steps multiple times online, while having someone on the phone assisting as well," says Rider. "These clients are thankful for the extension."

President Obama signed up for a bronze plan over the weekend, as well. The move was a symbolic one, as the President is covered through the military, as all presidents are.

In anticipation of heavy online traffic or other technical issues, HHS had already programmed its systems to support Jan. 1 coverage for those who attempt to complete their enrollment through Tuesday. The agency called it a concept similar to Election Day, when those in line when the polls close still get to vote.

Insurers said they'd be standing by to help.

"Health plans will continue to do everything they can to help consumers through the enrollment process and mitigate potential confusion or disruption caused by all of these last-minute changes to the rules and deadlines," said Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for the trade group America's Health Insurance Plans.

Last week, insurers announced they were voluntarily extending the payment deadline to Jan. 10 "to provide greater peace of mind for consumers purchasing coverage through the new marketplaces," said Zirkelbach.

Peter Lee's excitement about California's enrollment numbers could be heard over the phone line Monday afternoon.

"It's rockin' and rollin' in California," said Lee, executive director of California's health exchange. "Sunday, we saw 27,000 people go end-to-end through the process."

From Friday to Sunday, 77,000 people enrolled in private plans, he said. Enrollment through the exchange in private plans now tops 400,000.

"We Americans generally leave things to the last minute, whether it's taxes or midterm reports," he said. "But the good news is, it means they've heard the message."

The volume on the website did, however, cause it to slow down, and pages may take five or six seconds to load, he said. California is not extending its deadline until Tuesday.

"If for any reason our system doesn't work today, we'll get you there," he said. "Some people, we may help them on Thursday. We'll get you across the finish line."

Insurance shoppers were rallying to meet the deadline in other states, too:

•Illinois saw its exchange numbers jump up over the weekend, said Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Sabrina Miller. During the first weekend of December, the state's call center received 222 calls. Saturday and Sunday's call center numbers increased to 1,625. They've had a total of 292,229 visitors as of Monday, up 11,894 since Friday.

•New York's numbers also increased significantly, up to 421,949 completed applications, 137,783 enrolled in private plans and 51,763 enrolled in Medicaid. As of Dec. 16, the numbers were: 363,258 had completed an application; 95,196 had enrolled in a private plan and 39,426 had qualified for Medicaid.

•Washington's exchange spokeswoman, Bethany Frey, said things went "really well" over the weekend. Though she didn't have complete numbers, she said the site's staff reported "very busy weekend traffic." Friday, 30,000 people visited the state website.

The deadline extension caught insurance brokers off guard, especially those who weren't planning to work past Monday. In Carlisle, Pa., broker Michelle Grochalski was already thankful she had finally shepherded about 18 clients through the arduous process of enrolling on HealthCare.gov. Unless a new client walks in her office Monday, "we are completely finished," she said.

It wasn't easy: While one client took just an hour and half, another took two months to enroll through the exchange. For one applicant, Grochalski said she had to reapply to take a child that didn't exist off their application.

"Tis the season for faith," she laughed.

In the time it took to get 18 people signed up on the federal exchange, Grochalski's office processed 50 other insurance applications for people who didn't qualify for subsidies and Medicare applications. The office will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday and she fears people looking for help from brokers after Monday may be out of luck.

Even though it's been "like Grand Central Station" in broker Elizabeth Gallops' office Monday, she wasn't happy with the decision to extend the deadline. She's hoping to get everyone signed up Monday and it will be up to individual brokers if they want to work on Christmas Eve, she said.

Things were going better Monday on HealthCare.gov than Friday when there were delays, said Gallops, who works for JBA Benefits of Winston-Salem, N.C. She's learned always to start with a fresh browser window. Monday it took about 15 minutes to get on the site and each client is taking about an hour and a half to enroll, Gallops said.

HealthCare.gov's queuing system seemed to be working smoothly Monday; error rates remained low at .45%, and wait times were minimal.

While that's good news, it's been a long few months for brokers and consumers trying to sign up for insurance, many say.

"I'm glad we could help the people we did. The season is still going to be jolly," said Grochalski. "But there's got to be better ways to get health care for all Americans versus the way they did it."

Contributing: Fola Akinnibi

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