The troubled Obamacare website, Healthcare.gov, has a new button on its front page: “APPLY BY PHONE”.
As recently as Sunday the “APPLY BY PHONE” button was not on the front page, but by Monday it appeared alongside the green “APPLY ONLINE” button that has been there since the website was launched.
Instead just the APPLY ONLINE” button appeared on the page in green. By Monday both buttons were present, in green, on the front page.
The addition is not surprising as the Obamacare website has been plagued by problems and glitches since its Oct. 1 launch. Even prior to the button’s addition, Obamacare representatives were encouraging people to apply over the phone.
An HHS official directed The Daily Caller to a Sunday blog post for additional information about the changes, which acknowledges the problems with the site and explains officials “have been working around the clock to make improvements” to Healthcare.gov.
The Associated Press reported over the weekend that administration officials said that staffing at call centers has been increased by 50 percent.
The Hill notes that in addition to the phone prompt the updated site offers users the ability to preview plans and calculate eligibility online.
The changes appear as the President Obama is scheduled to speak about the problems with the new health care law’s rollout Monday in the Rose Garden.
To date the Obama administration has not released official data on how many people have enrolled in plans through the exchanges. Over the weekend administration sources said that about 476,000 applications have been filed through the federal and state exchanges since the launch at the beginning of October.
Thursday a House panel is scheduled to to hold a hearing on the Obamacare rollout failures. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has refused to testify before the panel.