Health care website stumbles on last day
Source: AP-EXCITE
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration's health care website stumbled early Monday , falling out of service for nearly four hours on deadline day for sign-ups. After it was fixed, officials plowed ahead with a nationwide promotional drive, almost like getting out the vote on Election Day.
Early visitors to HealthCare.gov on Monday morning saw messages that the site was down for maintenance. At times the visitors were also directed to a virtual waiting room - a feature designed to ease the strain on the site during periods of heavy use.
Administration spokesman Aaron Albright said the website was brought back up shortly before 9 a.m., Eastern time. But people who missed their window sign up may still be able to take advantage of a grace period and other special extensions announced last week.
Albright said the site undergoes "regular nightly maintenance" during off-peak hours and that period was extended because of a "technical problem." He did not say what the problem was, but a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services called it "a software bug" unrelated to application volume.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140331/DACSNHLG0.html
The HealthCare.gov website is shown on a laptop in Washington, Monday, March 31, 2014. Today is the deadline to sign up for private heath insurance in the online markets created by President Obama's heath care law or face a federal fines. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)
bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)guess what.....the Affordable Care Act is well on the way of reaching its goal of 7 million by April 15th. (and I am going to predict it happens before that date).
StandingInLeftField
(972 posts)Getting the "HealthCare.gov has a lot of visitors right now!"
Luckily, I'm enrolled. Just wanted to see if I was able to pay online, as my new provider allows that.
lamp_shade
(14,824 posts)ForgoTheConsequence
(4,868 posts)And there was a hiccup this morning.
Quit attacking the messenger.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)Uh...what?
tofuandbeer
(1,314 posts)...and yes, we still get a paper delivered.
Here's the online version:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obamacare-uninsured-national-20140331,0,5472960.story#axzz2xYxiPz1I
StandingInLeftField
(972 posts)Still can't pay online though. I'm sure things will settle back down in a day or two. Glad to finally be a part of the ACA.