"Obamacare" launch fiasco rouses sceptics Just 106,000 Americans were able to sign up for health insurance during the first month of enrolment in online exchanges, fuelling anger about the failed rollout of "Obamacare" among the president's Democratic allies on Capitol Hill. As the first official figures for enrolment fell woefully short of the 500,000 estimate before the October 1 launch, the White House sought to quash a potential rebellion among rank-and-file Democrats that is testing the future of Barack Obama's signature achievement in office, the Affordable Care Act. Mr Obama has long defended his healthcare law against Republicans seeking to derail it. A growing chorus of Democrats, including senators facing tough re-election prospects next year, are also demanding changes to the law. The administration came under fire in a closed-door meeting of Democrats in the House of Representatives who are sceptical of the White House's reassurances that the site will be fixed soon. In the senate, six Democrats led by Mary Landrieu, the Louisiana Democrat, said they supported a proposal that would allow Americans whose policies are being cancelled because of changes under the ACA to keep their plans. While most Democrats are still publicly backing the ACA, and none have joined Republicans calling for its outright repeal, the Landrieu sponsored bill is seen as a warning shot, with many more Democrats poised to seek changes if the White House fails to fix the federal website by the end of the month. Of the newly enrolled participants, just 27,000 signed up for health insurance through the botched website that is managed by the federal government in 36 states. The remainder signed up through online "marketplaces" run by individual states like California. Kathleen Sebelius, the health secretary, emphasised the "strong" interest in the insurance websites and said the low figure mirrored the initial experience in Massachusetts, which saw just 123 people enrol in insurance when its reform plan was launched in 2007. "We expect enrolment will grow substantially throughout the next five months," she said. But critics said the figures served as a reminder of the steep challenge the administration faces to reach its goal of signing up 7m uninsured Americans by the end of March 2014. So far, just 1.5 per cent of that target group have selected plans. The administration did not release information on how many of those have actually paid for their plans, since payment is not due until December 15. This report is a symbol of the failure of the president's healthcare law. It is a rolling calamity that must be scrapped," said John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House. It is a rolling calamity that must be scrapped. John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House Mr Boehner said there was an urgent need for Mr Obama to allow millions of Americans whose current insurance plans are being cancelled because they no longer meet requirements under the ACA to be able to keep the plans they want. Mr Obama is under fire because he had repeatedly reassured Americans that they could keep their current health plans if they wanted. But last week he apologised to those who are in a difficult predicament because they are losing their insurance under the ACA. He also said many of those plans were inferior to regulated ones that were being sold over the new websites. While Mr Obama vowed to do "everything we can," the White House has not released plans to make changes to the law. Bill Clinton, the former Democratic president, this week chimed in to the debate when he called on Mr Obama to "honour the commitment the federal government made to these people" and change the law if needed. The administration said that 975,000 people had "made it through" the enrolment process and were confirmed to be eligible for insurance plans but had not yet selected a plan. Another 396,000 were determined to be eligible for Medicaid or Chip, the government sponsored health programmes for the poor and for children. The federal and state websites were visited by 27m people in their first month. Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, said on Wednesday that he was "very confident" that the faulty website would be working by the end of this month, as the administration has promised, even amid signs that more Democrats are growing frustrated with the White House's response to the problems.