About 700,000 applications have been submitted for U.S. healthcare coverage being offered through new exchanges created by President Barack Obama's healthcare law, a U.S. official said on Thursday. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released the number during an update for journalists about the healthcare marketplace, which has had a rocky rollout since enrollment in the new plans began on Oct 1. The U.S. government is operating the healthcare.gov website, which has been plagued by technical problems since the outset and is the portal for 36 states; the remaining states are operating their own online marketplaces.
