Boehner's Covered, 500 Visitors and Other HealthCare.gov News
House Speaker John Boehner Molly Riley/AP
Follow key reporting on the Obama administration’s signature policy initiative.
The rocky rollout of HealthCare.gov, the website for people to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, has garnered a lot of attention from the media as well as technology analysts. Here's our daily roundup of some of the key reports you may have missed:
- The White House has extended a key health reform deadline, giving people an extra week to enroll in health insurance that will take effect on Jan. 1. The new deadline is Dec. 23.
- House Speaker John Boehner blogged about his experience enrolling in an Obamacare health plan through the Washington, D.C. exchange. He had some trouble with the website but managed to get insured eventually. A Republican amendment to the Affordable Care Act requires most members of Congress to find insurance through exchanges. As a member of the leadership, Boehner was actually exempt, but he went to the exchange anyway, showing solidarity with the rank and file.
- More emails show that HealthCare.gov developers and officials knew the site was unable to handle 500 simultaneous users days before the site’s Oct. 1 launch.