Tuesday 12 November 2013

Just 50,000 people have signed up for Obamacare insurance on Healthcare.gov - one TENTH as many as expected

By Michael Zennie
Obama Administration expected 500,000 to sign up for private insurance exchanges in first month
Healthcare.gov has been plagued by glitches that have prevented many from signing up since it launched October 1
Government promises most problems with site will be ironed out by the end of November

The Wall Street Journal reports that as of last week, fewer than 50,000 have signed up for the health insurance exchanges.

According to the newspaper, internal Obama Administration reports predicated that 500,000 people would sign up for Obamacare insurance policies in the first month.

Last week, it was revealed that only six people were able to join policies the first day Heathcare.gov was rolled out - despite millions of visitors to the site.

In addition to the 50,000 who signed up through the federal Obamacare site, another 49,000 signed on to private insurance through state-run websites, which have worked significantly better.

The Department of Health and Human Services has scrambled to fix the problems with Healthcare.gov - even as the January 1 deadline for all Americans to have health insurance draws ever-nearer.

Officials have promised that all the kinks will be worked out of the site for 'most users' by November 30.

That leaves just one month for Americans who need private health insurance to sort through the options offered by the private health insurance exchanges and decide on a plan.

Insurers are already growing wary of the insurance exchanges. The Journal reports that the customers who are signing up for the Obamacare plans are older than they were expecting.

Insurers said they can only profit from the federal exchanges if young, healthy people sign up - as well as older, sicker Americans.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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