Errors continue to plague Obama government health site

US insurance companies and government officials reviewing insurance applications on the website HealthCare.gov that allows people to apply for affordable insurance under the health-care law have identified a great number of errors.

Millions of Americans have applied for health coverage under President Barack Obama’s controversial healthcare law, known as Obamacare, which is aimed at increasing the quality and affordability of health insurance and lowering the uninsured rate.

However, thousands of insurance applicants from HealthCare.gov have received inaccurate assignments to Medicaid or to the marketplace for private plans, or have received incorrect denials, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Other problems facing HealthCare.gov include a malfunctioning website to the cancellation of health policies that don’t meet the law’s requirements, the Journal said.

By one estimate, at least one in five insurance applications faced an error at the height of the problems, people familiar with the matter said.

The risk that consumers could remain in a state of uncertainty as the health law’s coverage expansion begins in January has been a continual political threat to the Obama administration, which has addressed flaws.

To correct inaccuracies, some people may have to delete accounts and start over now that some glitches have been repaired, people familiar with the matter said.

Errors can lead to people who earn too much being enrolled in state Medicaid programs for which they aren’t actually eligible, or low-income citizens being incorrectly barred from affordable coverage.

The widespread difficulties with the new healthcare law has been one of the main culprits for Obama’s waning popularity along with other domestic and foreign issues.

Only 34 percent of Americans said Obamacare is a good idea while 50 percent said it is a bad idea, according to an NBC/WSJ poll taken last week.