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During a White House speech, President Obama has acknowledged the newly launched website, healthcare.gov, hasn't been working as smoothly as it is supposed to.

"The website has been too slow. People have been getting stuck during the application process. And I think it's fair to say that nobody is more frustrated by that than I am. We're doing everything we can possibly do to get the websites working better, faster, sooner. We've got people working overtime, 24/7, to boost capacity and address the problems. We've had some of the best IT talents in the entire country to join the team. And we're confident that we'll get all the problems fixed."

Since its launch on October 1st, the new website immediately became the target of critics due to its low speed and the failure to handle the tens of thousands of applications it's been recieving.

Among those taking shots at the new system is Republican Senator and former Presidental candidate John McCain.

"It's been a fiasco. Send Air Force One to Silicon Valley. Load it up with smart people, bring it back to Washington and fix this problem. It's ridiculous, and everybody knows that."

Responding to attacks from the Republicans and other critics, President Obama says the Affordable Care Act will provide protection and benefits for millions of once-uninsured Americans.

"But I just want to remind everybody that we did not wage this long and contentious battle just around the website. That's not what this is all about. We wage this battle to make sure that millions of Americans in the wealthiest nation on earth finally have the same chance to get the same security of affordable quality healthcare as anybody else."

It's believed that around 500-thousand people have already signed up for the new health care exchanges online.

Under Obamacare, it's going to become mandatory for individuals to have health insurance as of the start.

Xiaohong, CRI, Washington.