United States

The Obamacare rollout

The government shutdown temporarily diverted attention from an early October rollout of Obamacare that went badly awry. HealthCare.gov—the Web site that was established as a clearinghouse of information, a marketplace for insurance plans, and the place to apply for health coverage for those in 36 states—initially performed miserably. During its first weeks it operated slowly, erratically, or simply crashed, and far fewer users were able to access the site, much less apply for insurance, than had been hoped. In late October the Obama administration ordered a “tech surge” to address those problems, but progress in overcoming the glitches was slow, providing Republicans, who had borne the brunt of public dissatisfaction with the government shutdown, the opportunity to lambast the Web site in particular as well as Obamacare and the Obama administration in general. As HealthCare.gov’s performance improved, Obama went on the offensive, encouraging Americans to sign up for coverage and seeking to bolster his plummeting approval ratings. At the beginning of April 2014, after the end of the first open enrollment period, he would be able to announce that 7.1 million Americans had signed up for private insurance plans through the marketplace, meeting the administration’s target.

HealthCare.govA screenshot of the federally run HealthCare.gov site as it appeared on November 29, 2013.Jon Elswick/AP Images