Politics
Traffic to healthcare website grows – 1 million new visits on Monday claims White House
U.S. President Barack Obama’s chief of staff said on Tuesday that more than 1 million new visitors had checked out the HealthCare.gov website on Monday, the first day after a major overhaul of the troubled site used to shop for health insurance required under new reforms.
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said the website’s new queuing system, used in times of high traffic, worked “pretty well,” with 13,000 visitors choosing to receive an email to return later on Monday when there was less traffic, and half of that group accepting that invitation.
“No matter what, we’re going to see this thing through,” said McDonough, who spoke to a forum organized by Georgetown University and law firm Arent Fox.
When it launched on October 1, the website was supposed to make it easy to buy health insurance in 36 states. Other states run their own marketplaces.
Consumers needing health insurance by January 1 have until December 23 to sign up, while all uninsured Americans are required to have plans by March 31.
But the federal website was beset with errors and slow speeds.
“That’s on us. That’s on me,” McDonough said, echoing apologies that Obama has made for the disaster that has damaged the president’s credibility and popularity.
