If You Think Enrolling in Obamacare Is Hard

Tech troubles at the U.S.-run health exchange are hitting insurers

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By Drew Armstrong and Alex Nussbaum

October 11, 2013 at 12:31 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

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This article is part of the October 14, 2013 issue of businessweek.

Shopping for insurance on the new exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act was supposed to be as easy as browsing for a plane ticket on Expedia. That wasn’t the case for days after the Oct. 1 rollout. The online marketplaces run by states and the federal government were overloaded with visitors. Websites crashed, impeding signups. Some states have resolved the snags; California announced that 28,699 people have applied for health plans online, while 7,000 Kentuckians have purchased coverage.

It’s been more difficult to find out how well healthcare.gov, the U.S.-run marketplace that serves 36 states, is doing. The federal government won’t disclose enrollment numbers, and insurers reluctant to discuss the rocky Obamacare launch aren’t speaking either.