Pressure mounts to fix exchanges

Bob Ettinger tries to enroll in the nation’s new health insurance system at the Community Health Center, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013, in New Britain, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

The pressure is on for the federal government and states running their own health insurance exchanges to get the systems up and running after overloaded websites and jammed phone lines frustrated consumers for a second day as they tried to sign up for coverage using the new marketplaces.

In some ways, the delays that persisted Wednesday were good news for President Barack Obama and supporters of his signature domestic policy achievement because the difficulties showed what appeared to be an exceptionally high level of interest in the overhauled insurance system. But if the glitches aren’t fixed quickly, they could dampen enthusiasm for the law at the same time Republicans are using it as a rallying cry to force most of the federal government to shut down.