WASHINGTON: The White House said Tuesday it had reached its target of signing up seven million people to new insurance plans under President Barack Obama’s health care law.
“I think it is fair to say we surpassed everybody’s expectations,” spokesman Jay Carney said, noting that 7,041,000 people had signed up before a midnight deadline.
Carney said more than 200,000 people signed up on Monday on a federal website, and the number was expected to rise as data came in from the states.
Obama was due to speak on the issue at 4:15 pm (2015 GMT).
The scramble to sign up for insurance plans at the end of a six-month enrollment window caused website glitches and long lines at on-the-spot enrollment centers.
Senior White House officials saw the deadline day rush as vindication after the disastrous rollout of the federal health care website — HealthCare.gov — late last year.
The law demands that all Americans have health insurance or pay a fine, but offers subsidies for the less well-off.
Republicans have renewed a vow to repeal the law, which they say costs jobs, handcuffs small businesses and represents a government power grab in the private health care market.
AFP