The Affordable Care Act’s federal exchanges, which launched in Wisconsin and 33 other states Tuesday, ran into a series of technological issues soon after the federal government simultaneously began its shutdown proceedings.
The exchanges, which are aggregated into a federal online marketplace, healthcare.gov, allow citizens to access a list of health care coverage options standardized to make comparing costs and available subsidies easy. The available options are based on where a potential consumer lives.
Health care consumers who had previously signed up for the online marketplace attempted to start shopping Tuesday, but encountered technical difficulties from the excess traffic the site was forced to carry on the first day of the open enrollment.
It was unclear whether the glitches were connected to the government shutdown.
Accessibility issues generally improved as the day went on, according to multiple sources.
President Barack Obama said in a speech Tuesday all the problems with the exchanges will be fixed soon.
