I have insurance, but I wanted to kick the tires so I created an healthcare.gov account on October 1 and ran into all of the problems that others described (long page load times, errors, etc.). I live in Ohio, so we don't have a state-run site, thanks to our Republican governor and legislature. I went back on Halloween, and everything that I got hung up on the first time, worked fine. The pages loaded almost instantly and I was able to do the ID verification, subsidy eligibility, and view plans.
While I have no intention of leaving my employer-sponsored plan, I was impressed with the options on the exchange. I'm not eligible for a subsidy, so The gold plan that's closest to my current plan has a monthly cost of $387. My employer-sponsored plan is about $530 per month (I pay $70, my employer pays the rest). The exchange plan is about $150 cheaper, for similar, but not identical coverage. My current plan has an $800 max for out of pocket expenses, while the exchange plan has $1000 max; I currently play $20 co-pay for doctor visits and $35 for specialists, the exchange co-pay is $35 and $45 respectively. It's from the same company as my current, employer-sponsored plan. If I were paying my full premium out of pocket, it would be a no-brainer to go with the exchange. The cheapest option, with higher deductibles and OOP maximums would have been much lower monthly premiums, around $250/month.
If I had wanted or needed to enroll, I've been able to access and use the system successfully in late October. Getting online and getting enrolled is definitely doable, and since that's not sexy, "Obamacare is Doomed" narrative that the "liberal" media has embraced, we all need to be proactive in encouraging and helping those needing coverage through the process.
