By CARLA K. JOHNSON
FILE – In this Sept. 26, 2013 file photo, Laura Leon, project director for the navigator program at Sinai Community Institute of Chicago, speaks at a gathering of individuals seeking information on the new national health overhaul law that takes effect Oct. 1, 2013. Millions of Americans will be able to shop for the first time Tuesday on the insurance marketplaces. Whether consumers will be pleased with the experience, the premiums they will pay and the out-of-pocket costs of the plans offered to them will finally start to become clear. Tuesday’s rollout comes after months of buildup in which the marketplaces, also known as exchanges, have been both praised and vilified. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)
CHICAGO (AP) — The online insurance marketplaces at the heart of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul are showing signs of trouble handling the volume of consumers on the first day of a six-month open enrollment period.
Federal officials are aware of the website problems Tuesday and are working to address it as quickly as possible.
U.S. Health and Human Services spokeswoman Joanne Peters says officials “have built a dynamic system and are prepared to make adjustments as needed and improve the consumer experience.”
The site for Maryland, which is running its own exchange, displays a message saying “We open at 12:00 noon on October 1st.”
Callers to the federal call center where consumers can get help by telephone have reported long wait times.
