Although it was created to solve problems, Obamacare has been through a rough couple of weeks following the marketplace launch.
People have complained about website crashes and other issues on healthcare.gov, where residents can find information about the Affordable Care Act or sign up for new health insurance coverage.
The website has suffered because of the vast number of people who browsed in the first three weeks, about 20 million, but the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working to resolve the errors, said President Barack Obama during a speech at the White House on Monday.
“The problem has been the website that’s supposed to make it easy to apply for and purchase the insurance is not working the way it should for everybody,” Obama said. “I think it’s fair to say that nobody is more frustrated by that than I am.”
Obamacare was at the center of a congressional stalemate that shutdown the government for more than two weeks and nearly caused the country to default on its debt. And recently some people have complained about a phone number similar to the 24/7 healthcare hotline, which is actually a sex line.
If someone dials 1-800-382-5968 (F–K YOU), a female voice prompts a list of choices.
“If you are trying to reach Obamacare press one,” she says. “If you are not trying to reach Obamacare press two.”
Anyone daring to try the second choice will be transferred to “1-888-FREE SEX,” where they will be given choices between straight or gay phone sex.
The number is not connected to the healthcare marketplace hotline, according to representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid that talked to The Courier. The agencies were unsure why the phone number issues that message and said residents trying to reach the hotline should hang up and dial the real number: 1-800-318-2596.
But despite all the issues, Obama promised the Affordable Care Act is benefitting “thousands” of people and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on October 22 that a team of tech experts has been brought in to fix errors with the website.
The national healthcare website has been giving trouble, but New York residents should visit nystateofhealth.ny.gov to purchase health insurance.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
