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          US Starts Offering to Sell Health Insurance to the Uninsured

   The U.S. has started offering to sell health insurance to millions of
   people who do not have coverage to help pay their medical bills.
   Early Tuesday, the federal government opened an Internet web site
   providing information on how uninsured people could buy insurance. The
   site was initially overwhelmed by so many visitors that many received
   an error message, but the problem later appeared to be fixed.
   The new insurance policies are part of U.S. President Barack Obama`s
   signature legislative achievement, the 2010 passage of wide-ranging
   health care reforms that are the country`s most ambitious in nearly 50
   years. They are partly aimed at offering to sell medical insurance to
   30 million or more uninsured people in the country, but also requiring
   anyone without coverage to pay a fine if they choose not to buy it.
   The reforms are widely known in the U.S. as Obamacare, and remain as
   controversial as when they were approved solely by Mr. Obama`s
   Democratic supporters in Congress over the staunch opposition of his
   Republican opponents. The law is at the center of the current
   government funding stalemate that Tuesday forced a partial shutdown of
   federal agencies for the first time in 17 years.
   Numerous Republican lawmakers are seeking to end funding for the
   reforms, or at least delay full implementation of the law. The
   insurance offered by private companies through state-by-state exchanges
   would take effect in January, but several other reforms have been in
   place since Mr. Obama signed the legislation into law.
   As the threat of a government shutdown neared reality Monday, Mr. Obama
   told Republicans they would not be able to halt the law.
   "The Affordable Care Act is moving forward. That funding is already in
   place. You can`t shut it down."
   Mr. Obama was set later Tuesday to talk about the start of the
   insurance sales and meet with people looking to buy health care
   coverage.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/us-starts-offering-to-sell-health-ins
   urance-to-the-uninsured/1760648.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-starts-offering-to-sell-health-insurance-to-the-uninsured/1760648.html