President Barack Obama’s top technology guru said Saturday that the website designed to sell health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act drew far more visitors than it was prepared to handle.
U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park told USA Today that officials expected HealthCare.gov to draw 50,000 to 60,000 visitors simultaneously, but has instead seen upwards of 250,000 visitors since the site went live on Oct. 1.
Park said the well-publicized glitches that have vexed visitors to the website are a byproduct of the traffic.
“These bugs were functions of volume,” Park said. “Take away the volume and it works.”
The website was overwhelmed with traffic hours after its launch last week, causing long wait times for visitors.
