Analysis: Most consumers don't complete exchange applications
The Obama administration touts a higher-than-expected interest in the initial rollout of the federal health insurance exchange but few of the millions of people accessing the website actually complete applications, according to a new analysis from consulting firm Kantar US Insights.
Using data from research firm Millward Brown Digital, Kantar found about 9.5 million unique people visited the federal exchange site in the first week. But less than half of 1 percent of those consumers, about 1 million people, actually completed the registration process. And only 271,000 people could successfully log into their accounts, while only 196,000 consumers could enter the enrollment stage.
Perhaps more troubling, the analysis determined traffic to the federal exchange decreased by 88 percent between the opening day on Oct. 1 and Oct. 13, largely because of continued technical glitches throughout the site.
"Unfortunately, what started as a fire hose of interest resulted in only a small trickle of actual healthcare enrollments," Millward Brown Digital Managing Director Matt Pace wrote in the analysis.
But the Obama administration disputed the analysis. "HealthCare.gov received 14.6 million unique visits in the first 11 days, showing the intense demand for quality, affordable health insurance," HHS spokeswoman Joanne Peters told the Washington Post. "While traffic is down somewhat from its peak on day one, it remains high as Americans continue to seek to learn more about their new coverage options."
To learn more:
- here's the Kantar analysis
- read the Washington Post article
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