Close to half a million Americans have filed health insurance applications through federal and state exchanges, according to a weekend announcement by the Obama administration. More than one person can be included on an application, so the number of people seeking insurance may be higher than 476,000, the current number of documented applications.
Officials would not release the number of people who have actually enrolled in insurance markets, but noted that interest in the program remains high as 19 million people had visited HealthCare.gov as of Friday night.
As the Associated Press notes, the first three weeks of sign-ups have been "marred by a cascade of computer problems," and the president is expected to address the problematic rollout of his administration's signature legislation during a Monday health care event.
The White House says it plans to release the first enrollment totals from both the federal and state-run markets in November.
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