In 75 seconds, Mika Brzezinski was able to connect with an Obamacare agent—on national television.
Technical problems have marred the roll-out of Obamacare’s online exchanges. On Monday, President Obama encouraged Americans to call the hotline to sign-up, but some critics say that isn’t working either.
“By the way, we called the hotline on Monday and the automated menu redirected us to Healthcare.gov, which in turn told us to get in touch with someone at the call center,” the Wall Street Journal editorial page wrote on Tuesday. “In an era where Google is making self-driving cars and Amazon offers next-day delivery for just about anything, the White House plunged ahead with a system it knew to be defective and is relying on the technology of the 19th century as the fall-back.”
“I got an agent! Hi there,” Brzezinski exclaimed. She dialed the number at 6:47 and was connected with an agent at 6:48.
“Did they refer you to healthcare.gov?” MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow asked.
“No, I got a live agent,” she said. “Alright, so by the way, unlike the Wall Street Journal, if you want to get through call 1-800-318-2596.”
Jane Timm