News coverage regarding the technical problems with the website, Healthcare.gov, the federal healthcare exchange site, has been front and center in the media. States like California that opted to create their own exchanges seem to be faring much better. The only significant problem coveredcalifornia.com experienced was with the “Find your Doctor” tool that was repaired and updated by Oct. 22. “All of the information is current,” Covered California spokesperson Roy Kennedy said. “But keep in mind consumers really need to verify with the doctors themselves or with the individual health plans.” The site has received more than 1.6 million unique visitors as of Oct. 16.

Despite calls for President Obama to delay or extend deadlines under the Affordale Care Act because of the problems with Healthcare.gov, Jeffrey Zients, appointed by Obama to correct the problems with the site, assures the public that the site will be fully operational by the end of November. “The HealthCare.gov site is fixable. It will take a lot of work, and there are a lot of problems that need to be addressed,” Zients said.

Some important dates to calendar are: Jan.1, 2014 – plans for those that who have enrolled in insurance plans under the ACA become active,  and benefit changes that also take effect include: coverage cannot be denied due to a pre-existing condition or gender, and insurance companies can no longer limit the amount of coverage they provide in a year. March 31, 2014 – Enrollment closes, unless a person qualify for special enrollment due to a life change.