President Obama addresses glitches with Healthcare.gov

As we reported in the Morning Line:

President Barack Obama will address glitches with the online health insurance marketplace on Monday, fresh off a weeks-long battle over government funding and raising the debt limit that saw congressional Republicans make repeated runs at defunding or delaying his signature domestic achievement, the Affordable Care Act.
Julie Pace of the AP reports on the President’s statement:

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Monday said there was “no excuse” for the cascade of computer problems that have marred the rollout of key elements in his health care law, but declared he was confident the administration would be able to fix the issues.

The president said his administration was doing “everything we can possibly do” to get the federally run websites up and running. And he guaranteed that everyone who wants to get insurance through the new health care exchanges will be able to.

Obama’s event in the White House Rose Garden had the feeling of a health care pep rally, with guests in the Rose Garden applauding as Obama ticked through what the White House sees as benefits of the law. The president was introduced by a woman who had successfully managed to sign up for health insurance through the marketplaces in her home state of Delaware.

The president insisted that his health care law is about more than just a website.

“The essence of the law, the health insurance that’s available to people, is working just fine,” he said.

The White House says more than 19 million people have visited HealthCare.gov since the site went live on Oct. 1. Officials also say a half million people have applied for insurance on the federal- and state-run websites.