President Obama acknowledged that ongoing problems with the healthcare.gov website – the health insurance exchange for Americans in most states – were giving consumers pause, making supporters nervous, and helping adversaries discredit the Affordable Care Act.
"There’s no sugarcoating it. The website has been too slow," President Obama said during an Oct. 21 White House speech. He said that consumers were having trouble logging on to the website and have gotten bogged down during the application process.
"Nobody’s more frustrated by that than I am," he said, adding that "I want the cash registers to work; I want the checkout lines to be smooth. So I want people to be able to get this great product."
Alicia Ault/IMNG Medical Media
President Obama speaking earlier this fall.
That product, according to the president, is high-quality health insurance that’s offered at a good price.
He said there has been "massive demand," citing nearly 20 million visitors to healthcare.gov. Thirty-four states are directing their residents to buy coverage through that federal website. The president also said there was a lot of demand for plans offered through the exchanges being run by 16 states and the District of Columbia.
Overall, half a million consumers have submitted applications through the federal and state websites, President Obama said. "People don’t just want it; they’re showing up to buy it," he said.
For consumers who have difficulty in accessing the website, President Obama referred them to a toll-free phone number, 800-318-2596. He also said that people could apply in-person at various locations.
"Nobody’s madder than me about the fact that the website isn’t working as well as it should, which means it’s going to get fixed," he said.
On Oct. 20, Health and Human Services department officials said that some of those fixes were underway. The site has been sluggish because "the initial wave of interest stressed the account service," according to HHS officials. But they said that the "data hub" was working, meaning that consumers would be told if they were eligible for subsidies. They also noted that the agency is bringing in technical help to fix the website – something President Obama repeated in his speech.
But the president also said he was frustrated that there was so much focus on the website, given that it was only 3 weeks into a 6-month enrollment process, and that many of the ACA’s benefits were already in place.
He addressed what he called "some of the politics that have swirled around the Affordable Care Act," noting Republican efforts to defund or repeal the ACA.
"And I’m sure that, given the problems with the website so far, they’re going to be looking to go after it even harder," he said.
But, he said, "We did not wage this long and contentious battle just around a website." The battle was "to make sure that millions of Americans in the wealthiest nation on Earth finally have the same chance to get the same security of affordable quality health care as anybody else."
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) was not impressed. "If the president is frustrated by the mounting failures of his health care law, it wasn’t apparent today," said Rep. Boehner, in a statement. "Instead of answers, we got well-worn talking points. Instead of explanations, we got excuses."
He added that "the House’s oversight of this failure is just beginning."
On Oct. 24, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold the first of what is likely to be many hearings on the website rollout. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was invited to testify, but declined because of a scheduling conflict.
Rep. Boehner said that "Secretary Sebelius must change her mind and appear at this week’s hearing."
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*This story was updated 10/22/13.