The October 1, 2013 edition of the Hartford Courant describes the roll-out of the health insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act. According to a federal source cited by the article, the federal system serving uninsured consumers in 36 states was functioning but the large volume of online traffic was causing problems loading pages. The Department of Health and Human Services reported more than 1 million people had visited the system's website, HealthCare.gov, in the past day, a five-fold increase. In contrast, according to the article, users in some states with state-administered exchanges, including Connecticut, California and Rhode Island were able to successfully create profiles.
Health insurance plans participating in the exchanges must provide a broad range of benefits that were not necessarily part of individual policies in the past, including mental health services, birth control, and preventive care. The act’s insurance market reforms include a ban on discrimination based on gender and health history.
