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Illinois Residents Experience Glitches In New Online Healthcare Exchange

Remko van Dokkum | Flickr

Tony Arnold contributed reporting from Chicago.

Some Illinois residents trying to sign up for health insurance through the new exchange program yesterday ran  into technical glitches.

Consumers reported waits of 20 minutes or more on the hotline, or errors while trying to access the website.

Gov. Pat Quinn called the glitches an expected part of rolling out a new program this large.

"When Apple unveils a new device, they may have some minor problems and glitches that need to be resolved, but they go forward," Quinn said.  "They don't just stop and say, 'Well, we're going to take a year off.'"

Quinn's office says it hopes 300,000 people will enroll in the health marketplace by the end of March.