HealthCare.gov website malfunctions just before enrollment deadline

HealthCare.gov experienced delays early Monday morning and was offline for several hours the day of the enrollment deadline.

The health insurance portal was "down for maintenance" starting at around 3:20 a.m. and was fully functioning again by 9 a.m. after technology personnel discovered a software bug during routine maintenance, said Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, according to The New York Times. The technological glitch spilled over into the final hours for most people to enroll in Obamacare.

More than 2 million people logged onto the site over the weekend, but Albright insists the software problem was "not volume related."

The spokesman said Monday that affected applicants were asked to leave their email addresses during the five-hour offline interlude so that they could "be invited back" when the system resumed. They could also call a hotline to finish their applications, Reuters said.

The official sign-up deadline is 11:59 p.m. March 31. Those who fail to apply for coverage by then face a fine. There is, however, a special enrollment period for those who attempt to sign up before the deadline but can't due to technological problems.

President Barack Obama's notorious HealthCare.gov website has been on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs ever since its launch in October. The HHS agency asserts that the website "has handled record consumer demand well." Despite the plague of problems, as of last week more than 6 million people had successfully signed up for health care coverage.

"The law's working," White House senior adviser David Plouffe said, according to a Fox News report. "This was a seminal achievement."

Republicans have been aiming to take down Obamacare from the start, and a Fox News poll suggests many Americans stand with them. About 56 percent of Americans surveyed oppose the law, compared to 40 percent who support it.