Enrollment

Federal health officials, after encouraging alternate sign-up methods amid the fumbled rollout of their online insurance website, began quietly urging counselors around the country this week to stop using paper applications to enroll people in health insurance because of concerns those applications would not be processed in time.

A Midwestern company not in the federal marketplace next year launched ads in Iowa and South Dakota poking fun at the technical problems.

Gallup survey results show support is holding steady.

CMS has repeatedly refused even to estimate how big the 834 problem is.

Matt Slonaker, the executive director of the Utah Health Policy Project, said the widespread technical troubles combined with political opposition to the health overhaul caused many to wonder if the law was doomed.

The state reported 27,000 more applications completed and approved over the past week, bringing the total to 284,440.