Some state-run health exchanges scramble to meet last-minute sign-up traffic

People are waiting in line in Maryland while Minnesota's exchange is now enrolling about 2,000 people a day. Elsewhere, California has trouble getting African Americans to sign up, and Florida's enrollment numbers swell.

The Washington Post: Md. Health Exchange Centers Inundated As Deadline Looms
With only a few days left for Marylanders to begin the process of signing up for health insurance or risk a government fine, thousands of residents are seeking help with the state's online marketplace -- and often waiting hours, or even days, to get it (Johnson, 3/26).

Pioneer Press: MNsure Seeing Increase In Traffic, Problems As Enrollment Deadline Nears 
With the final enrollment deadline nearing, MNsure is seeing a surge of interest among people seeking health insurance -- and experiencing a few more website problems along the way. With the state's health insurance exchange now enrolling about 2,000 people daily, its website experienced five days of unplanned downtime during the first 25 days of March, ... After this month, individuals seeking commercial health insurance won't have another chance to obtain coverage until Nov. 15, at which point policies for 2015 will be available (Snowbeck, 3/26).

Los Angeles Times: California Struggling To Enroll African Americans In Obamacare
Latinos aren't the only sore spot for Covered California heading into Monday's enrollment deadline for Obamacare coverage. Very few African Americans have signed up statewide, and there's not much time to address the lackluster turnout. Wednesday, state officials reiterated that Monday remains the deadline for open enrollment. But the state will give Californians until April 15 to finish their application if they start it before midnight Monday (Karlamangla and Terhune, 3/26).

The Associated Press: Florida Overcomes GOP Barriers To Enroll Uninsured
Florida's Republican leaders have fought the Affordable Care Act at every turn, banning navigators from county health departments, offering no state dollars to boost outreach efforts to 3.5 million uninsured and leading the fight to repeal the law. Yet the state has emerged as a tale of what went right with President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. More than 440,000 Florida residents had been enrolled through the federal marketplace through the end of February, putting Florida on pace to exceed the federal government's initial projections by the time enrollment closes March 31 (Kennedy, 3/26).