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OBAMACARE ENROLLMENT PERIOD ENDS WITH MASSIVE SURGE
By: Joanne Kenen and Kyle Cheney
March 31, 2014 07:02 AM EDT
The first open enrollment season of Obamacare ended at midnight Monday, a day that saw millions of Americans click onto Obamacare sign-up portals, dial into call centers and stand in long lines at assistance sites nationwide. The huge surge made it increasingly likely that enrollment would hit 7 million, the finish line that seemed out of reach during much of the often rocky six-month period.
Shortly after 10 p.m., the Associated Press cited two sources that said sign-ups were “on track” to hit 7 million. Administration officials wouldn’t confirm the number but said that signs were pointing in that direction.
The HealthCare.Gov website took down enrollment forms just after midnight and displayed a new message that will transition people into a “special enrollment” period.
“Don’t worry,” it said. “We’ll still help you get the coverage you need for this year.”
Federal health officials said the site would reappear in a new guise Tuesday morning with instructions for post-March 31 sign-ups. Those will be open to people who self-report that they tried to make the deadline but failed. Depending on how long special enrollment goes on, enrollment numbers could still rise significantly.
The last official day of the Obamacare coverage push was hit by a double whammy of new HealthCare.gov glitches that caused confusion and delay. The federal website was down for six hours early Monday morning. Then it was up. Then it activated its “virtual waiting room.” Then it blocked newcomers from creating accounts accounts.
Then it was working again, with officials reporting more than 1.6 million visitors by 2 p.m. and more than 3 million by 8 p.m. State exchanges reported similar surges. The federal site queued visitors when traffic rose, offering them a chance to get an email notification when the site would be less congested. It held through the night, despite the crush of visitors.
State-run exchanges are also giving grace periods to people who started but didn’t finish. Some have set stricter criteria for the extensions than others.
The technical problems, a flashback to HealthCare.gov’s botched launch last October, weren’t the focus the White House wanted as it tried to spur more Americans to be part of the late enrollment momentum. The intensity and tone of the White House messaging over these last days had evoked a confident turnout push on the eve of a close election. Suddenly it was about the glitchy website once again.
But as the day wore on, the final surge kept growing — although it will be some time before it is known precisely how many of these people will finalize their enrollment by paying their premiums, how many were previously uninsured, and, perhaps most important, how many end up liking their new coverage well enough to help Democrats construct a counter narrative.
Numerous polls show the law remains controversial and unpopular, and the Republicans have steadily blamed the Affordable Care Act for harming the economy, raising costs, killing jobs and depriving people of access to doctors of their choice. Even some moderate Democrats, facing tough re-election fights, want to change aspects of the four-year-old law.
Administration officials again hit the road and the airwaves Monday, touting the benefits of subsidized health insurance and celebrating the historic sign-up momentum. President Barack Obama was in Italy and Saudi Arabia last week and hasn’t given enrollment an in-person nudge since his return. But the White House released humorous photos of him and first lady Michelle Obama and even the family dogs Bo and Sunny urging everyone to get covered.
Vice President Joe Biden appeared on the “Rachael Ray Show,” talking health care — and skin care. “I think everyone is going to be surprised and pleased at how this has turned out,” the ever-garrulous vice president said in pre-recorded comments that sounded discordant against the surprise headlines about website woes.
Later, Biden went to a school in Washington where people were getting help with their applications and thanked everyone.
“You are going to be better off for it. The country is going to be better off for it. So thank you,” he told them.
Enrollment had surpassed the revised 6 million threshold as of last Wednesday.
The HealthCare.gov glitches Monday were nowhere near as severe as those of October. These were repaired in hours; those lasted two devastating months when the fate of the law was in the balance. Still, it wasn’t what the administration wanted for the final narrative, and whether or how much the latest technical troubles suppressed or discouraged last-day shoppers may never be known.
“I know there’s been a lot of focus on glitches — but there has been a remarkable story since the dark days of October and November,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said at his daily briefing, as a monitor behind him showed photographs of long sign-up lines in places like Alabama, Texas and Florida, red states where the governors have been hostile to the president’s health care law.
Republicans focused on the big picture: not what might be wrong with the website but what in their view is wrong with the whole law.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that “millions of Americans [are] facing higher premiums, canceled plans and the loss of doctors and hospitals they liked as a result of this law.” Once again, he called for it to be scrapped.
Since the “tech surge” repaired the HealthCare.gov mess around Thanksgiving, the portal has largely accommodated waves of traffic. Outages have been fairly infrequent and relatively short.
Monday’s problems are likely to postpone getting a true, complete picture of the exchange population. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told an Oklahoma television station that 80 to 90 percent have paid their premiums. That’s an industry estimate, not an independent HHS tally, and it’s likely to be in flux for at least a few more weeks.
State enrollment has varied, not just based on politics but on the mechanics of the exchange. Maryland never got its exchange working; California blew by its targets.
The end of enrollment marks just one phase in the Obamacare wars. With millions gaining coverage through the federal- and state-run exchanges, Medicaid or by staying on their parents’ plan until age 26, Democrats can show the health care law’s benefits to voters before the 2014 mid-term elections.
But Republicans, buoyed by recent polls reaffirming Obamacare’s unpopularity and signs that candidates running against the law are gaining steam, plan to make it the centerpiece of their own sales pitch to Americans through November. The law, they argue, is driving up the cost of care, destabilizing the economy and forcing millions off their existing health plans.
Jennifer Haberkorn and Jessica Meyers contributed to this report.
© 2014 POLITICO LLC
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/0...197.html?hp=f1
Has Obamacare reached its goal of 7 million sign ups?
