ThinkProgress / News Investigation
Published: Wednesday 2 October 2013
“A first-day rush ,” “strong early interest ,” “high volume” — those are just some of the words animating Wednesday morning’s headlines about the first day of enrollment in Obamacare’s health care marketplaces.
Though the federal and state based websites experienced glitches and delays, leaving many frustrated, the strong public appetite for obtaining coverage appeared to surprise officials and undermined conservative claims that the public doesn’t know or care about the law.
More than 2.8 million people visited HealthCare.gov and some state-run exchanges also reported millions of logins. New York saw 10 million attempts to reach the site, California reported 5 million visits, 65,000 people visited the Illinois exchange — and submitted 1,100 applications– 78,000 Kentuckians logged on and completed more than 2,900 applications, and 55,000 “went to Colorado’s exchange site.”
Below is a sample of the headlines from across the country:
CONNECTICUT: Health Care Plans Begin: 28,000-Plus Go Online To State Marketplace [Hartford Courant]
GEORGIA: Enrollment Sites Are Swamped On First Day [The Augusta Chronicle]
IDAHO: Idaho Health Exchange Launches With Few Hiccups [Idaho Statesman]
INDIANA: Insurance Marketplace Draws Strong Early Interest [Journal and Courier]
KENTUCKY: Kynect Opens To High Demand [The Courier-Journal]
MAINE: Insurance Marketplace Opens To Flood Of Interest [Bangor Daily News]
DELAWARE: Off And Running In New Market: Website Overwhelmed On First Day Of Access [The News Journal]
MICHIGAN: Insurance Exchange Debut Draws Millions [The Detroit News]
NEW MEXICO: Obamacare: Plenty Of Interest, A Bevy Of Computer Snags [Carlsbad Current-Argus]
COLORADO: Heavy Traffic Slows Health Website On Debut Day [The Durango Herald]
FLORIDA: Website Are Overwhelmed As Many Log On, But Optimism Is Voiced [Tampa Bay Times]
ARIZONA: Health Markets Swamped On Day 1 [The Arizona Republic]
CALIFORNIA: Millions Try To Enroll [The Bakersfield Californian]
CALIFORNIA: Healthcare Exchange Off To Busy Start [Los Angeles Times]
ALABAMA: State Insurance Marketplace Swamped With Consumer Interest [The Anniston Star]
RHODE ISLAND: Strong Interest On First Day Of R.I. Exchange [The Providence Journal]
SOUTH CAROLINA Health Insurance Website Overwhelmed On First Day [The State]
VIRGINIA: Markets Open For Business [Daily News-Record]
WISCONSIN: Insurance Exchanges Slowed By Demand [Green Bay Press-Gazette]
WISCONSIN: Wis. Residents Flood Exchanges [Stevens Point Journal]
OHIO: High Volume, Glitches Mark ACA’s First Day [Dayton Daily News]
PENNSYLVANIA: A First-Day Rush On Health Care [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
NEW YORK: Overloaded Website Delays Health Exchange Enrollment [The Epoch Times]
NORTH CAROLINA: Heavy Demand Stymies Health Care Law Rollout [The Fayetteville Observer]
TEXAS: Texans Sign Up Through Exchange [The Brownsville Herald]
Officials charged with implementing the law don’t expect the visits to immediately translate into sign-ups, pointing to the experience in Massachusetts, where uninsured people visited the website multiple times before eventually enrolling in health care reform. Enrollment will be open until March 31, though the uninsured have to sign-up by Dec. 15 to receive coverage on Jan. 1.
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