Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) touted the number of people who have visited the new ObamaCare exchange website, saying the public is “hungry” for health insurance.
“The American people are hungry to get covered with health insurance,” Harkin said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “The Affordable Care Act is up and running and people all over the country are flocking to it.”
Harkin, who serves as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said nearly 5 million people visited healthcare.gov within the first 24 hours of it launching Tuesday.
Harkin admitted that the website experienced “glitches,” but said that was because the administration didn’t expect so many people to visit the website on the first day — Oct. 1.
Lawmakers also failed to reach a deal Tuesday to keep the government funded — Harkin blamed that on Republicans.
“Republican still want to hold the government hostage and defund the Affordable Care Act,” Harkin said. “Republicans are still trying to stop [ObamaCare].”
House Republicans have tried to attach riders to defund and delay ObamaCare, but Senate Democrats have said they will only accept a “clean” CR.
It's unclear where the fight will go from here, with both sides digging in for the first government shutdown since 1996.
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