Many consumers looking to sign up for Obamacare health coverage weren't making it very far Tuesday morning.
Enrollment in the Obamacare exchanges opened Tuesday, with the federal and most state exchange sites unveiling their "Get Started" buttons. But widespread technical glitches plagued the exchanges.
New Yorkers, for instance, received an "internal server error" when they tried to sign up. Maryland residents were directed to a consumer information update that said both its website and call center were experiencing "connectivity problems."
And those going to the federal exchange site, which is handling enrollment for 36 states that didn't fully establish their own exchanges are greeted with this message:
"Health Insurance Marketplace: Please wait. We have a lot of visitors on our site right now and we're working to make your experience here better. Please wait here until we send you to the login page. Thanks for your patience!"
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Some states said previously that they wouldn't be ready to accept applications. The District of Columbia, Oregon and Colorado all announced that they would not be able to fully enroll all residents online in the initial weeks of enrollment.
Federal officials expected there to be technical trouble on the first day of enrollment. President Obama mentioned it in a speech last week.
"Somewhere around the country, there's going to be a computer glitch and the website's not working quite the way it's supposed to, or something happens where there's some error made somewhere -- that will happen. That happens whenever you roll out a new program," he said. "But you don't have to sign up on Tuesday. You've got six months to enroll in these new plans. You can go to the website; you can check it out; you can see if what I'm saying is true."
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