The Affordable Care Act’s third open enrollment period opened up off Sunday morning (11/01/15), without any reported problems with HealthCare.gov or the local state exchange websites. HHS Secretary Burwell and other officials continue to acknowledge that this sign-up period brings new challenges as the Administration seeks to enroll the remaining uninsured.
As per the Washington Post, open enrollment through HealthCare.gov and state-based insurance marketplaces “opened smoothly and on time Sunday” at about 7 a.m. Eastern time. HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced the start of open enrollment in the lobby of the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in Washington. According to the Post, “the first day was relatively quiet.” During the first six hours, “about 40,000 applications were submitted through HealthCare.gov., according to federal officials.”
Other news reports stated that the open enrollment period kicked off with light consumer activity and no signs of major technology problems. The Obama Administration was expecting low enrollment activity on Sunday because of the weekend launch but is preparing for a faster pace of sign-ups in the coming weeks.