Heavy Internet Traffic But Not a Lot of Sign-Ups For Online Exchanges
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
By: Alicia Mandigo

The first day of enrollment for the online health insurance exchanges put Navigators and Certified Application Counselors on stand by as the government's website- Healthcare.gov became bogged down by heavy traffic. But one local health care center says people aren't discouraged by the delays.

Central Florida Family Health Center’s five locations are staffed with Certified Application Counselors. Like Navigators, the application counselors received special training to help people use the online health insurance exchanges.

An estimated 60-percent of the clients at the Central Florida Family Health Center clinics are self-pay patients. But Project Manager Tasha Casaccio says the internet traffic delays aren’t leaving those uninsured clients frustrated.

“I think that they’re hungry for this, to have this break, and can wait a little bit longer if it means there’s a possibility for there to be some relief in their family and some of the stress and anxiety that comes from not having health insurance and needing to see a doctor,” she says.

Still, the number of people looking for help with the exchanges was lower than expected. Casaccio says that could be because people aren’t sure where to go for help.  She says people can visit Healthcare.gov and type in their zip code to see a list of places that can help.