By Courtesy of NBC
Doug Mills/The New York Times
Obama on Health Site Glitches: President Obama said the technical problems on HealthCare.gov did not indicate a failure of the Affordable Care Act.
WASHINGTON — President Obama declared Monday that “nobody is madder than me” about the failures of the government’s health care Web site, but said the technical problems did not indicate a broader failure of the Affordable Care Act.
[h=5]Contribute to Our Reporting[/h]The Times would like to hear from Americans who have begun to sign up for health care under the Affordable Care Act.
Share Your Experience »
[h=6]Gabriella Demczuk/The New York Times[/h]President Barack Obama spoke on the Affordable Care Act in the Rose Garden at the White House on Monday.
[h=6]Doug Mills/The New York Times[/h]Some Republicans have called for Kathleen Sebelius, the health secretary, to be dismissed over the technical problems.
“We did not wage this long and contentious battle just around a Web site. That’s not what this was about,” Mr. Obama told supporters during 25-minute remarks in the Rose Garden.
The president acknowledged that HealthCare.gov had not provided the easy opportunity to sign up for health insurance that White House officials promised for months. But he said that some people had managed to get insurance, and he urged critics of the law to support it.
“It’s time for folks to stop rooting for its failure, because hard-working, middle-class families are rooting for its success,” he said.
The White House event was intended as a response to mounting criticism of the health care law in the wake of the Web site’s failures. Many people have been unable to sign on to the site or create accounts, and technical advisers who have worked on the site say it could take weeks or months to fix.
Mr. Obama said there was “no excuse” for the problems, but he did not say whether anyone in the government would be fired because of the failures. Some Republicans have called for Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, to be dismissed over the site’s technical problems.
Mr. Obama also sought to highlight other ways to sign up for insurance, including expanded call centers and in-person “navigators” who are at hospitals and health care centers around the country. People can also download a form to fill out and mail in, he said.
Mr. Obama read out a toll-free telephone number — 800-318-2596 — that people could call to sign up for insurance instead of going to the Web site. He said waiting times had been only one minute on the phone, though he acknowledged that his reading the number on television could change that.
Several calls to the number immediately after he read it produced busy signals.
Still, Mr. Obama urged people to separate the Web site’s problems from the purpose of the law, which he said was to find a way to provide affordable health insurance to millions of Americans who do not have it.
“The product is good. The health insurance that is being provided is good. It’s high quality and it’s affordable,” Mr. Obama said. “We know that the demand is there. People are rushing to see what’s there.”
Doug Mills/The New York Times
Obama on Health Site Glitches: President Obama said the technical problems on HealthCare.gov did not indicate a failure of the Affordable Care Act.
WASHINGTON — President Obama declared Monday that “nobody is madder than me” about the failures of the government’s health care Web site, but said the technical problems did not indicate a broader failure of the Affordable Care Act.
[h=5]Contribute to Our Reporting[/h]The Times would like to hear from Americans who have begun to sign up for health care under the Affordable Care Act.
Share Your Experience »
- [h=6]Contractors See Weeks of Work on Health Site (October 21, 2013)[/h]
[h=6]Gabriella Demczuk/The New York Times[/h]President Barack Obama spoke on the Affordable Care Act in the Rose Garden at the White House on Monday.
[h=6]Doug Mills/The New York Times[/h]Some Republicans have called for Kathleen Sebelius, the health secretary, to be dismissed over the technical problems.
“We did not wage this long and contentious battle just around a Web site. That’s not what this was about,” Mr. Obama told supporters during 25-minute remarks in the Rose Garden.
The president acknowledged that HealthCare.gov had not provided the easy opportunity to sign up for health insurance that White House officials promised for months. But he said that some people had managed to get insurance, and he urged critics of the law to support it.
“It’s time for folks to stop rooting for its failure, because hard-working, middle-class families are rooting for its success,” he said.
The White House event was intended as a response to mounting criticism of the health care law in the wake of the Web site’s failures. Many people have been unable to sign on to the site or create accounts, and technical advisers who have worked on the site say it could take weeks or months to fix.
Mr. Obama said there was “no excuse” for the problems, but he did not say whether anyone in the government would be fired because of the failures. Some Republicans have called for Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, to be dismissed over the site’s technical problems.
Mr. Obama also sought to highlight other ways to sign up for insurance, including expanded call centers and in-person “navigators” who are at hospitals and health care centers around the country. People can also download a form to fill out and mail in, he said.
Mr. Obama read out a toll-free telephone number — 800-318-2596 — that people could call to sign up for insurance instead of going to the Web site. He said waiting times had been only one minute on the phone, though he acknowledged that his reading the number on television could change that.
Several calls to the number immediately after he read it produced busy signals.
Still, Mr. Obama urged people to separate the Web site’s problems from the purpose of the law, which he said was to find a way to provide affordable health insurance to millions of Americans who do not have it.
“The product is good. The health insurance that is being provided is good. It’s high quality and it’s affordable,” Mr. Obama said. “We know that the demand is there. People are rushing to see what’s there.”