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MNsure Says Website, Call Center Running Well

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Officials with Minnesota's health insurance exchange said its website and call center were functioning well Sunday as the deadline looms for open enrollment.

"I'm tickled pink. I have a big smile on my face. Things are going well," MNsure spokeswoman Jenni Bowring-McDonough said.

Minnesotans have until 11:59 p.m. Monday to enroll for health insurance coverage or face federal tax penalties under the federal Affordable Care Act.

The call center wait time from the first ring and a series of prompts until a real person answered was under eight minutes when The Associated Press placed a test call just before 2 p.m. Sunday. That's about the same wait that MNsure officials reported for most of last week as people who hadn't signed up previously started rushing to beat the deadline.

MNsure hasn't issued a tally yet of how many of the 400,000 previously uninsured Minnesotans have enrolled. The exchange didn't plan to issue updated figures Sunday, Bowring-McDonough said. But as of Friday, more than 152,000 Minnesotans had either enrolled in private insurance plans or qualified for government-subsidized public plans.

MNsure will grant reprieves for people who make a good-faith effort to enroll but can't complete the process before the deadline.

The exchange has more than 50 sign-up events scheduled across the state Monday, capping a month of more than 1,000 enrollment events statewide.

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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