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Texas Clinic Registers One Person, Enrolls Zero, Hours After Obamacare Launch

Clinics ask people to try again later as technical problems persist

Legacy Community Health Services, a Houston area clinic, was only able to register one person and enroll no one in Obamacare after hours of attempts, according to Politico.

Clinics in other states dealing with exchanges set up by the federal government suggested that those experiencing problems be persistent and try again later. Politico reports:

"Ever since I got here this morning, [the staff] has been at the computer trying, trying, trying" to log in and enroll, said Salinas, who is 31 and has been uninsured for "I don’t know how many years."

Salinas, one of the estimated 1 million uninsured in Houston’s Harris County is anxious to get coverage to treat a long-standing back issue and access preventive care. But she’s not surprised by the glitches.

"All of this is to be expected — I feel like it’s totally normal and to be expected. Any time you roll out the system, any time there’s new technology, there’s always kinks," she said. "You never want the first wave of iPhones; you want to wait until the second or third wave anyway."

"I think that’s just a glitch. I think if you try it later in the day once things slow down, I think it will probably be fine," said Melisa Garcia, who is helping patients enroll in the marketplace.

Garcia says she’s excited to get someone enrolled, but she, too, expected problems on the first day.

Published under: Obamacare , Technology