Health Care

ObamaCare signups spike on same day Obama tweeted support

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The ObamaCare signup website healthcare.gov received its highest traffic on Monday, the same day former President Obama recorded a message urging people to sign up.

A spokesperson from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did not say what drove the spike, but noted the website always sees spikes closer to the Dec. 15 deadline to sign up for insurance coverage.

Some users reported Monday that they were placed into a “waiting room,” which holds website users until the site adjusts to higher traffic.

{mosads}Aside from that incident, the agency spokesperson said the website “has performed well” and “consumers have been able to easily access enrollment tools to compare plans and prices.”

Before the spike, enrollment in ObamaCare plans was down by 11 percent compared to last year, according to the most recent numbers released by the Trump administration.

In the first five weeks of this year’s sign-up period, about 3.2 million people signed up for ObamaCare plans, compared to the 3.6 million who had signed up by that point last year.  The newest figures will be released later this week.

CMS said some consumers who call to enroll in coverage may be asked to leave their contact information so they can be called back. Some will be contacted after the December 15 deadline, but will still be eligible for coverage beginning Jan. 1.

On Monday, Obama to Twitter to urge his followers to sign up for health insurance before the Saturday deadline.

“No jump shots. No ferns. No memes. Not this time,” Obama tweeted. “I’m going to give it to you straight: If you need health insurance for 2019, the deadline to get covered is December 15. Go to HealthCare.gov today and pass this on — you just might save a life.”

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