To his credit, Gov. Gray Davis streamlined the enrollment process after taking office in January 1999.
Representatives will be able to review available plans and complete the enrollment process over the phone.
The enrollment process, between its exhaustive application and financial investigations, needs more work than public awareness, they assert.
States that turned over much of the enrollment process to community-based groups also tended to do best.
Her children went to art camps, sports camps and writing camps, and Ms. Rintoul had to begin the enrollment process for these camps as early as January.
Had the deadline not been extended, those who had not yet paid as of 1 January would have had to start the enrollment process all over again.
Moreover, Mr. Waxman said, the purpose of the new options is to "streamline the enrollment process" and speed assistance to people who are unemployed.
The New York State of Health call center is also taking calls at this time and helping customers with the enrollment process.
And even with the federal site's problems, some half-million Americans have successfully submitted applications through state and federal exchanges, the first step in the enrollment process.
President Bush called the plan "the greatest advance in health care for seniors" in 40 years, but many seniors found Part D in general and the enrollment process in particular to be complicated and confusing.
"Right now, we've got 88,000 people with Global Entry interviews scheduled on the books" and an additional 13,000 in the enrollment process who have not yet scheduled interviews, Mr. Wagner said.
