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Complaints Of Long Wait Times On 2nd Day Of MNsure Enrollment

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Frustration continues for some on the second day of enrollment for Minnesota's health care exchange.

On Tuesday, MNsure's website crashed and phone lines were overwhelmed by thousands of robocalls. On Wednesday, things went smoother, but users still complained of long waits.

Deb Taillon, of West St. Paul, wrote on Facebook that MNsure's website and operators were "utterly useless."

"There are lots of questions and having all this up in the air, all these unknowns, is really unsettling," Taillen said.

She says her family will get their insurance through a private broker, not MNsure.

MnSure's Facebook page had complaints Wednesday of waits over an hour. CEO Allison O'Toole says those are exceptions.

"Today is completely different," she said. "We have still high call volumes, but we now have seven minute wait times in our call center."

Officials say that MNsure received 50,000 calls Tuesday before 9 a.m. On Wednesday, they received 1,600 before 9 a.m.

Meanwhile, Gov. Mark Dayton and House Speaker Kurt Daudt are pledging to work together to help those hit hardest by soaring rate hikes. Even so, it's clear MNsure will be a major issue in state legislative races.

A Goodhue County couple profiled by WCCO-TV are featured in a new ad from the Minnesota Jobs Coalition. In the ad, David and Ann Buck say: "Democrats got us into this mess with MNsure, if we don't vote against Democrats, we are just going to get more of the same."

All 201 members of the Minnesota Legislature up for election next week.

MNsure says as of Wednesday it's enrolled 8,700 people.

As for the ongoing investigation into the robocalls and what caused MNsure and other state websites to crash, answers might come at a news conference Thursday morning.

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