The Clock is Ticking [UPDATED]

Today is (currently) the last day of the initial Open Enrollment season. Ms Shecantbeserious has indicated that, if you've tried to sign up and met with no success, the actual final day is April 15th [ed: irony - how does it work?]. I have several clients in this boat right now, and am waiting with bated breath as to how it will play out.

Golden State readers are in a very different boat. Co-blogger Bill reminds us that:

"Under the latest deadline changes, an application has to be started on CoveredCA by MARCH 31. You have until APRIL 15 to complete it. Outside of a qualifying event, if you miss the March 31 date, you're out until next year. On the Federal Exchange, they allow you to check a box that says that you tried to enroll and couldn't and are then allowed until April 15 to start a new application. That's not the case in California!"

Best get crackin'!

UPDATED: Heh (from Bill H):

The latest (slightly edited) press release from CoveredCA:

"Record-setting numbers of people trying to sign up for Covered California™ health insurance plans overwhelmed the system on the final day of open enrollment. Because of the staggering demands on the system, Covered California announced the following policy this afternoon:

• Consumers who were unable to create an online account or start their online application because of technical difficulties can contact a Covered California Certified Insurance Agent to explain that they attempted to get through on March 31 and experienced difficulties. Those consumers will have until 11:59 p.m. April 15 to work with the Certified Insurance Agent to complete their application and choose a plan.
 

• Consumers who created an online account and completed the first page of the application by 11:59 p.m. March 31, 2014, will be able to complete their application for the open-enrollment period, either by themselves online or with the help of a Certified Insurance Agent. Consumers must complete the application and select a plan by 11:59 p.m. April 15, 2014. Those enrollees will receive coverage effective May 1, 2014."

Rumors that the entire system is running on two surplus Commodore 64 computers are unfounded. An Altair 8800 is also employed to dynamically balance the load.