Troubled Obamacare website fewer than 27,000 sign up

Washington: Fewer than 27,000 people signed up for private health insurance last month in the 36 US states relying on a troubled federal government website, far fewer than expected, the Obama administration revealed Wednesday. States running their own enrollment systems did better, signing up more than 79,000, for a total enrollment of more than 106,000. The total was barely one-fifth of the nearly 500,000 people administration officials had projected would sign up in the first month of President Barack Obama’s signature program. And it represents just 1.5 percent of the 7 million people the administration hopes to enroll by next year. [caption id=“attachment_1228515” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Cathey Park from Cambridge, Mass. shows the words “I Love Obamacare” on her cast for her broken wrist . AP[/caption] Obama’s presidential legacy will depend heavily on the successful implementation of the health care overhaul, which is meant to extend medical insurance to millions of Americans who do not have it. The difficult launch has given opposition Republicans a new line of attack against the law, which they unsuccessfully tried to derail last month in a fight that led to a 16-day partial government shutdown. Republicans hope to use momentum from the troubled launch in next year’s midterm elections — while Democrats had hoped to point to the health care program’s success. Millions of lawmakers’ constituents are losing current individual policies that don’t meet the law’s requirements. To guarantee they don’t experience a break in coverage, they would have to select new plans by Dec. 15. That’s a major political problem for Democrats who so far have stood by the president. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said things will get better, and quickly. “There is no doubt the level of interest is strong,” she said. The administration has staked its credibility on turning the website around by the end of this month. Officials, including Obama, have said that HealthCare.gov will be running smoothly for the vast majority of users by Nov. 30. Administration officials have not specified what “running smoothly” means, or what would constitute the “vast majority” of users. In a blog post on Saturday, Julie Bataille, the health department’s communications director for the rollout, quoted chief White House troubleshooter Jeff Zients as saying improvements would continue in “December, January, February — just like you do with any website.” Asked whether the Nov. 30 target was still achievable, Bataille said on Tuesday, “I want to be clear that our plan remains the same. We are on a path to make improvements week by week so that by the end of November, the site will be working for the vast majority of users.” AP