CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has been trying for two weeks to sign up for ObamaCare.
Unfortunately as she reported on Monday's New Day, despite trying for fourteen days including at hours that were claimed to be "off peak," she still hasn't been able to establish an account (video follows with transcript and absolutely no need for additional commentary):
CHRIS CUOMO, CO-HOST: We are now two weeks into the sputtering rollout of Obamacare, and still, few explanations for those technical glitches. Some experts say fixing it could take long time. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has been trying unsuccessfully to set up an account. She joins us from the CNN Center.
Good morning, Elizabeth.
So, how is it going? Have you figured it out yet?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, I haven't figured it out, yet, Chris. As a matter of fact, this is kind of a second job for me, ever since October 1st. And I want to show you exactly how frustrating it's been.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: I put in my user name and password, it didn't recognize it.
(voice-over): Error messages, page not found, system down. It's been a tough nearly two weeks for Obamacare.
(on camera): There were error messages, that twirl leafing. I hate it, right?
(voice-over): I have been trying since day one to get an account and log in on healthcare.gov. I failed again.
(on camera): You couldn't make this page work.
(voice-over): And again.
(on camera): It wouldn't log me in.
(voice-over): And again.
(on camera): It's not working.
(voice-over): When I called the 1-800-number, the reps tell me volume is high and to try again during off-peak hours. So, I tried at 10:30 at night, 7:00 in the morning. And still, it didn't work.
So, finally, I set my alarm clock for 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Guess what? The system was down for maintenance.
I'm not the only one having trouble. On Facebook, people took to the healthcare.gov page to vent by the thousands, and on CNN's iReport.
MARY IVY, CNN IREPORTER: I've tried it hundreds of times, literally hundreds of times since October the 1st.
COHEN: Independent analyst tells CNN the problems go beyond higher volume and minor glitches. They say the site fails to follow basic coding. There is the old fashioned option of enrolling over the phone and using and snail mail. You do have time to be insured by January 1st, you just have to complete the process by December 15th.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COHEN: Now, just to be clear, this is a journalistic endeavor for me. I'm lucky enough to get insurance through my employer. Imagine how frustrating it has been for people who do need insurance -- Chris.
CUOMO: Journalistic endeavor, it looks like abject failure to me, Elizabeth.
Now, when you go to the administration and point out the obvious about the glitches, what's the response?
COHEN: You know, they just keep telling me the volume has been very high, that's why we're having these glitches.
But, Chris, I have to say when we talk to experts, they say this goes way behind high volume. But that's not the cause for all of the problems that we have been seeing.
CUOMO: Right, that stands to reason, Elizabeth. I mean, when we think of all the high volume sites that were out there, millions of millions of transactions a day, it's certainly not just about software. It's about something else. They have to figure out.
Thank you for doing your part, to show us the problem. We appreciate it, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
