Colo. health exchange gets 55K visitors so far

Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s health insurance exchange mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, launched Tuesday along with the rest of the country’s exchanges, and had seen 55,500 unique visitors as of 3:15 p.m

The exchange launched at 8 a.m., and users created 1,450 new accounts as of mid-afternoon. The site’s shopping web page experienced 100,000 page views per hour.

“We’re very pleased with our progress today and the strong interest that we’ve seen from consumers,´ said Patty Fonteau, CEO of Connect for Health Colorado in a statement. “Thousands of Coloradans have already begun learning about their new options and shopping for health insurance through our marketplace.”

The high level of traffic on the site caused technical difficulties that caused the exchange to temporarily suspend the creation of new accounts mid-morning, but the problem was solved just after noon.

A banner on the website mid-morning Tuesday said “due to overwhelming interest, we are temporarily suspending the creation of accounts. Please continue to browse plans.”

“As expected, we encountered several challenges when our system went live today,” Fonteau’s statement said.

The exchange opened after months of preparation and will allow individuals, families and small businesses to shop for health insurance options that will take effect as early as Jan. 1, 2014. Open enrollment on the exchange lasts through March 31, 2014.

Plans purchased on the exchange could be eligible for federal subsidies. Financial assistance is estimated to be available to nearly 500,000 Coloradans, according to a release from Connect for Health Colorado.

“Today is the beginning of a new era of opportunity for Coloradans to access quality, affordable health insurance so they can protect their health and finances,” Fonteau said in a statement.

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