Health care website put to the test as deadline nears

CHICAGO (AP) — The government's revamped health care website was put to its biggest test yet as a record-breaking surge of Americans rushed to beat today's extended deadline for signing up for coverage.

After a disastrous, glitch-plagued rollout in October, HealthCare.gov, the website where people in 36 states can shop for insurance, received nearly 2 million visits Monday and handled the traffic well, the government said.

Monday was the sign-up deadline for people wanting coverage at the start of the new year. But the Obama administration pushed back the deadline a day to deal with expected heavy traffic from procrastinators.

The grace period was the latest in a series of delays that have marked President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Critics of the law seized on the extension as more evidence the program is in trouble.

The law's supporters said, however, the extra day means the public got the message and wants subsidized health insurance.