Saturday marks deadline for Healthcare.gov improvements

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The self-imposed deadline of federal health officials for a problem-free ObamaCare enrollment website is Saturday, and the administration says it is ready.

A spokeswoman for the website said it has reported a sharp decline in "error" messages at HealthCare.gov as prospective customers attempt to enroll, and website pages are displayed faster than when the site was launched Oct. 1.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, while not using the words "all clear," has urged a wary public to return to and use the site, the Christian Science Monitor noted Friday.

Meeting the deadline would offer a boost to the Obama Administration, mired in controversy over the rollout of its healthcare program for the past two months. It would also answer criticism surrounding the decision to delay the law's online sign-up system for small businesses, the Washington newspaper The Hill reported.

Low enrollment totals would likely raise insurance prices in the marketplace, and take a political toll on Democrats in the 2014 elections, The Hill added.

"It will not look good for the administration if they miss yet another deadline," said Jennifer Tolbert, director of state health reform with the Kaiser Family Foundation. "There are a lot of moving parts here, but ensuring that access point for consumers is vitally important."

The next big test for the ObamaCare system will come in December, as consumers seeking health insurance beginning in January are expected to shop, and a website traffic surge is expected. The website will be prepared to handle 50,000 customers at a time, officials with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the agency running the site, say.

Despite the improvements, the site slowed Wednesday as 30,000 users accessed the website simultaneously, project specialists said.

Five weeks of repairs have clearly made the site more efficient, though, the New York Times reported Saturday. From last Sunday to Tuesday, 20,000 users enrolled in insurance plans, compared to 27,000 for the entire month of October.

"The system will not work perfectly on Dec. 1, but it will work much better than it did in October," promised Medicare & Medicaid Services spokeswoman Julie Bataille earlier this week.