People who sought coverage on the federal Obamacare website are not able to fix errors that occurred when they tried to sign up on the balky system, leaving more than 20,000 Americans scrambling to scale back payments that are too high or obtain the correct health plan, according to a news report.

The Washington Post reports that appeals of the errors are sitting in a government computer.

Meanwhile, consumers who had a hard time on HealthCare.gov, the portal that serves 36 states, are reporting Kafkaesque encounters with call centers and other outside help while they wait for the appeals system to go live.

Some consumers were told to return to the site and start over, since HealthCare.gov is working much better than it did in October and November. Others said they are stuck in a “loop,” in which they thought they were eligible for Medicaid, found out from state agencies that they actually weren’t, and now can’t apply for private coverage on the website.

A spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told The Post they “are working to fully implement the appeals system.”

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