Health reporter Phil Galewitz explains that
The Trump Administration plans to shut down the federal health insurance exchange for 12 hours during all but one Sunday in the upcoming Obamacare open enrollment season. The shutdown will occur from midnight until noon every Sunday except Dec. 10. The Department of Health and Human Services will also shut down the federal exchange — healthcare.gov — overnight on the first day of open enrollment, Nov. 1. More than three dozen states use that exchange for their marketplaces. * * * The fact that HHS is now closing the site for a portion of each weekend upset many consumer advocates. Many working Americans — the prime target group for ACA insurance — might be shopping at just that time.
An HHS spokesperson says that this same type of shut down (for maintenance) happened during the Obama Administration. But Galewitz's reporting indicates that this claim is another Trump Administration lie — that is, shut downs for maintenance under the last Administration were much shorter and less frequent.
