Roughly 670,000 people signed up for health plans through Healthcare.gov on Thursday, the biggest single day of enrollments in the three years since the Affordable Care Act marketplace went into effect. That beats last year's record by 70,000.
The flood of new enrollees led the Department of Health and Human Services to keep the online marketplace for an additional four days due to roughly 1 million people who officials said were stuck in online waiting rooms to enroll.
Of course, looming over a day that would otherwise be viewed by the Obama administration as an unequivocal success is President-elect Donald Trump's vow to repeal the landmark health law when he takes office in a month.
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The administration has publicized the record enrollment, along with other statistics related to the ACA, in an effort to pressure Republicans into reconsidering their six-year-old campaign promise.
It has also enlisted the support of surrogates, including actor Bill Murray and the cast of the movie Hidden Figures, to urge people to keep signing up for ACA marketplace plans in online videos.
While no Republicans, including Trump, have said publicly that they are rethinking "repeal and replace," they have made clear they are aware of the political and economic pitfalls that scrapping the ACA invites.
In recent weeks, GOP leaders have said that they are considering a repeal bill that will not go into effect for as many as four years in the hope of not radically disrupting the health care system that millions of Americans depend on.
"Republicans will provide an adequate transition period and give people peace of mind," Rep. Kevin Brady, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, tells the Wall Street Journal. He similarly calls it a "big lie" that his party would lead people to lose their coverage.
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