Unprecedented demand as Health Care Act deadline looms

An overwhelming number of people have signed up for health insurance offered under the Affordable Care Act, according to a recent NY Times report. In fact, there have been so many people enrolling in health insurance plans that the government's capacity to handle all the new applicants has been temporarily limited. With the deadline for health insurance looming on Jan. 1, government officials have been scrambling to accommodate all new applicants.

Unprecedented demand for health insurance
The recent surge in health insurance enrollment has led to record levels of demand and consumer volume, Greenville Online reported. With hundreds of thousands of responses in the days leading up to the deadline, enrollment signups were actually extended to Dec. 17. HealthCare.gov handled unprecedented traffic levels on Dec. 14, when 178,000 people accessed the site. This represented the highest single day total for the site since 2013. That number is in addition to the 1 million people who have submitted their contact information and health insurance plan selections to the federal government this week and are waiting on a response. All told, the NY Times reported that 10 million people are expected to have health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act by December 2016.

Cities respond to Obama's challenge
A number of cities challenged by President Barack Obama in November to sign up more people to health insurance plans have reached record highs in health insurance signups this year. These cities were toward the bottom in the nation due to high numbers of uninsured adults.

All told, the NY Times reported that 10 million people are expected to have health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act by December 2016.

The NY Times showed that Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, Charlotte, North Carolina and Atlanta. Oakland, Calif., Nashville, Tampa, Fla., and Salt Lake City were the top performing cities that responded to the president's challenge. Meanwhile, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Phoenix and Great Falls, Mont. struggled with their number of new signups.