Sunday's deadline to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, passed as many states held last-minute sign-up campaigns and some even extended their deadlines after a technical glitch Saturday affected some people's ability to sign up. States and local areas reported holding call-a-thons and enrollment events to encourage people to buy health insurance, efforts that were thwarted in part by technical glitches on the federal website, HealthCare.gov, as well as some sites for state-run exchanges.
In the Northeast, a winter storm over the weekend also hindered sign-ups at the last minute. Rhode Island, which runs its own marketplace, extended its deadline, giving people until Feb. 23 to sign up for a plan. Last week, California's exchange, Covered California, said it would give those who started applications by the national deadline of Feb. 15 until Feb. 20 to complete them.
Local and federal government officials encouraged people to sign up for health insurancelast week, reminding them that if they didn't sign up by Sunday's deadline, they would notlikely be able to do so again until October. But technical glitchesfrustratedsome who tried to sign up on Saturday. HealthCare.gov had problems with the income verification portion of the sign-up process, and officials spent about six hours working on the issue before it was fixed. Some state exchanges reported similar issues. Katie Hill, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) press secretary, explained the problem as being due to "intermittent issues with external verification sources."
New York state gave New Yorkers who signed up but did not complete the application for health insurance by Feb. 15 two extra weeks to finish enrolling in a plan. By February 4, in New York, more than 2 million had signed up for insurance during the 2015 open enrollment period, which began November 15, 2014, and ended on Sunday. Of those, 1.4 million had enrolled in Medicaid.
On Monday, the HealthCare.gov blogsuggested that extensions may still be possible after the end of the open enrollment period for those who either tried to enroll before Sunday but could not due to website glitches or call-center delays, or for those who had sent paper applications by mail by the Feb. 15 deadline but had not completed the enrollment process. "We know many of you worked hard to enroll in a plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace," the site said. "Despite your best efforts, you may not have been able to complete your application and select a plan."
According to acasignups.net, a site that tracks Affordable Care Act enrollment numbers, nearly 10.5 million were confirmed to have enrolled in a health care plan as of Saturday, and 11.3 million were estimated to have signed up. In the last few days before the Feb. 15 deadline, sign-up numbers drastically increased. The DHHS expected 9.1 million to sign up during the 2015 open enrollment period.
DHHS said it had 80,000 concurrent visitors to the HealthCare.gov website at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, the highest number since Dec. 15. It also reported that the HealthCare.gov call center, which can be used to start applications forhealth care coverage as well as compare plans or ask questions, fielded over 250,000 calls on Sunday. The deadline for signing up via the federal marketplace was 2:59 a.m. Eastern Time Monday, although some state-run exchanges posted different deadlines.
Read the original post:
Health Care Enrollment: Obamacare Website Glitches Prompt Some States To Extend Deadlines
- How good is fish for your diet? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What foods have both fiber and protein? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Is There Evidence That Acupuncture Works? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What are some good fiber foods? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Can Green Tea fight HIV infection? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Quality of GNC Supplements - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Gene Smart Diet - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Tips for eating in a vegetarian lifestyle - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Regarding the Starting of a new diet regimen - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Thoughts on Dropping Weight - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What do doctors think about vitamin E supplements? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What herbs or supplements are commonly used for depression? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Is there a safe way to lose a lot of weight? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Diets that promise you will lose weight - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Are Fish Toxins Linked to Diabetes? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Can Plastic Surgery Help Migraines? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Weight Loss Surgery Eradicates Diabetes Symptoms - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Found: A Gene That Controls Fat Cells - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Sugars and Starches, what's the difference? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Improving your health with a serving of nuts? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Is Your Diet Causing You To Be Depressed? - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Placebo Effect: Magnetic Bracelet Therapy - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Does serotonin promote sleep? - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Decreased energy levels - Overeating, Sleep, Nutrition - February 1st, 2010 [February 1st, 2010]
- When will the body begin to cannibalize muscle tissue? - February 7th, 2010 [February 7th, 2010]
- Foods that are high in antioxidants - February 7th, 2010 [February 7th, 2010]
- Editorial: Reduce health care costs by cutting administrative overhead - April 1st, 2012 [April 1st, 2012]
- Health Care Winners: Centene, Onyxx - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Dan Morain: Nurses union puts politics ahead of health - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- What's next if Obamacare falls? - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Global Managed Health Care Services Industry - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Immigration Fight Echoes Health-Care Case at High Court - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Medical Centers Lead Workplace Wellness Effort - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- The next health care overhaul? Look to employers - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Capital BlueCross Hosts Community Health Care Forums Focused on Managing Costs While Maintaining Quality - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- County committee to look at area health care - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- President Obama Calls on Students to Tell Congress: #DontDoubleMyRate - Video - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Sen. Coburn: Competition in Health Care to Allocate Resources - Video - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Jesse Kelly health care - Video - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- PHC Vision Statement (short version) - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- The Bioeconomy Blueprint Panel - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Providence Health Care's Vision Statement - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Department of Health and Human Services: Minority Health Blogger Townhall - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Health care worker accused of stealing identities of brain i - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Health Care Reform, Part 1 of 3 | KYVE Insiders Roundtable - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Health Care Reform: The ACA and Beyond - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Is Broccoli Like Health Insurance? - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Did Obama make a mistake on health care? - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- How Democrats Lie About Health Care - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Toobin on Health Care: This was a "judicial hissy-fit" - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- President Obama says health care law will stand - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Obama Defends Health Care Law From 'Judicial Activism' - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Obama Healthcare Individual Mandate - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- President Obama attacks Supreme Court on health care - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Raw Audio: High Court Dissects Health Care Act - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Health care on trial - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Final Day of Health Care Law Arguments Before Supreme Court - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Feds to put up $1.9B for Oregon health overhaul - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Scuttling health care act will freeze Medicare, White House warns - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- U.S. Health Care Spending High, But Quality Lags: Report - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Yes, the Health-Care Mandate Is About Liberty - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Health center gets $1M federal grant - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Health-care reform panel considers exchange options for Va. - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Hmong health care gap focus of Healthy House dinner - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Walsh-led health bill to be unveiled - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Ontario health system confusing for ailing seniors, study finds - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- 'Health Care Deserts' More Common in Black Neighborhoods - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- With federal money, Oregon kicks health care reform into high gear - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Nurse practitioners tackling more 'doctor' tasks - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Konza Prairie Health Center Receives $4.5 Million Grant - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Alberta wages hurting Sask. health care - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- House releases plan to cut growth of Massachusetts health spending in half - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Mass. House Will Unveil Bill Seeking To Rein In Health Costs - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- President Obama Welcomes the Kentucky Wildcats - Video - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- President Obama Speaks on College Affordability - Video - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- My First Job: Gene Sperling - Video - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Health-care costs worry near-retirees - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- Massachusetts Institutes Health-Care Price Controls. Is America Next? - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- Massachusetts Moves Toward Health-Care Price Controls. Is America Next? - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- GOP plan boosts Pentagon, cuts social programs - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]