The HealthCare.gov website, gateway for health insurance coverage under Obamacare for tens of millions of American without state-operated exchanges, is down for off-hour repairs this weekend following days of difficulties after the Oct. 1 launch.
The government has yet to release enrollment figures but is officially gloating about “record demand in the first days of the marketplaces.”
The Associated Press (AP, which created the image on this page) reports that, upon entering the site, many consumers were put on hold for hours, and others who were able to fill out an online application were informed at the end of the process that they had taken too long and had been timed out.
In addition, the AP reports:
Quite a few got hung up trying to create security questions to protect their accounts. The drop-down menus providing the questions would not populate. As a result, consumers could not advance through the application process and learn if they were eligible for a tax credit to help pay premiums, much less pick a plan.
Weekend web repairs for frequently used sites, including banks and online merchants, often are taken down for repairs and upgrades during weekend wee hours, so in that sense, the Obamacare weekend makeover is not unusual.
Monday will tell the tale of the tape.