Heathcare.gov Fixes Will Not Happen By The End Of The Month As Promised, Report

Healthcare.gov, the troubled website that hosts the new insurance exchanges Americans have to shop to find coverage under the Affordable Care Act, will not be fixed by the end of November as had been promised by the Obama administration, according to a report in the Washington Post.

If you are one of the millions who are getting cancellations from their insurance companies and are trying to shop for new coverage under the law, you might be out of luck, if the report is true.

According to the information provided by an unnamed official with knowledge of the glitches that have affected Healthcare.gov since it went live on October 1, it is highly unlikely the site will be fully functional by the end of November.

The site was supposedly designed to handle up to 60,000 visitors at once, but has been unable to do so and has had problems with half that number.

According to the Post’s source, only about 60 percent of the issues have been addressed by CGI Federal, the contractor hired by the Obama administration to build the website.

Once again, President Obama promised that the site would be functional by the end of this month when he assured worried consumers:

“The website is already better than it was at the beginning of October, and by the end of this month, we anticipate that it is going to be working the way it is supposed to, all right?”

According to this source, that promise is not likely to come to fruition, just as the promise of keeping your insurance if you like it didn’t happen for millions.

Healthcare.gov is one of the most complex government websites ever built. Fifty-five contractors participated in the creation of the site.

It communicates in real time with at least 112 different computer systems across the country. In the first 10 days, it received 14.6 million unique visits, according to the Obama administration.

This graphic posted on The Washington Post gives you a better idea of the way in which the website works.

Using healthcare.gov is not only frustrating for customers looking health coverage as required by the law of the land, but for insurance companies trying to sign up people directly.

As Republicans and Democrats (who overwhelmingly support Obamacare) get more letters from their constituents complaining that they have been dropped by their insurance carrier, the pressure mounts for the White House to fix the site and its glitches.

Moreover, House Democrats are starting to break ranks and demand the President keep his promise: “If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan. Period.”

Earlier this week, former President Bill Clinton said Obama should honor his repeated promises to the American people.

Have you visited Healthcare.gov? What has been your experience with the website?