Covered Cal swamped by signees

Covered California continues to see a surge in enrollments, with 53,510 people signing up for healthcare policies in the three-day period of Dec. 16-18.

That’s far more than signed up for Obamacare policies in the entire month of October.

On Dec. 18, the Covered California web site reported 8 million page views.

The soaring signups mean the California Affordable Care Act insurance exchange is on track to exceed its projections of enrolling 500,000-700,000 people by the end of late March.

“The enrollment we’re seeing is remarkable by any account,” Covered California chief Peter Lee said. “It is a very strong testament to Californians both learning about the Affordable Care Act and taking advantage of its benefits.”

The holiday-season rush comes as the Dec. 23 deadline is days away. Those seeking policies that become effective Jan. 1 under the Affordable Care Act must sign up by then, and pay for their coverage by Jan. 6.

Covered California said it would not again extend the deadline for payments, as is being done in much of the nation.

On Wednesday, Dec. 18, a total of 20,506 enrollments were logged by Covered California, topping Tuesday’s total of 19,351. Monday saw 13,653.

The Obamacare operation’s service center extended its hours a few days ago, now open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Those seeking help via phone will have a substantial wait, most likely, as hold times continue to be north of a half hour — about 31 1/2 minutes recently. The Covered California web site’s home page continues to warn of a high volume of calls.

Despite media reports of a crippling backlog of paper applications, Covered California said this week that the situation is under control. “From our perspective, we do not have a backlog of paper apps,” executive director Lee said.

“Because of the extremely high interest, we want consumers to use our online tools for self-enrollment or visit a Certified Insurance Agent or their local Certified Enrollment Counselor,” Lee said. CoveredCA.com by and large has been free of the crippling glitches that affected the federal web site.

The California web site reported 644,654 “unique” vistors in the week of Dec. 8-14. (Web site uniques is a different and lower number than “page views.”)

Open enrollment for Covered California policies continues through the first quarter of 2014. Individuals who do not have health insurance after March 31 most likely will be subject to an Obamacare penalty.