Launching Obamacare enrollment sites was an 'impossible task'

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Obamacare's new online healthcare exchanges got off to a bad start this week, as an onslaught of traffic to enrollment websites meant many people were unable to sign up.

But experts say the government faced an impossible task in launching such a major online program with limited resources.

A Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman told CNNMoney that staffers were working on the problem and had been able to expand system capacity, which cut by one-third the number of people who were waiting to apply.Healthcare.gov, the online home of 36 states' Obamacare exchange enrollment, has received 7 million unique visitors in the two days since the system launched on Tuesday. About 4.6 million of those came in the first 24 hours. Many users who tried to log on received messages asking them to wait, sparking outrage and criticism about the exchange system and Obamacare itself.

"We have to hope the government can get its act together before Obamacare gets the same bad reputation as waiting at the Division of Motor Vehicles," said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecom analyst.