Updated Nov. 13, 2013 10:22 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON—The government released numbers Wednesday showing that far fewer Americans had enrolled in private insurance plans under the new health law than expected and, in a marked shift, the Obama administration signaled it was open to legislation to fix the troubled rollout.
The move came as the administration faced mounting dissatisfaction from Democrats over the law's implementation.
New administration figures showed that only 26,794 people nationwide had enrolled in a private health plan through the balky online federal marketplace in its first month—far short of projections. Meantime, some 79,391 people had bought private plans on state-run exchanges.
In the past, White House officials had said they strongly preferred an administrative remedy to the law's shortcomings. But on Wednesday, officials suggested that President Barack Obama was open to a bill by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D., La.), that would require insurers to continue offering plans that were in existence this year, even if that meant reinstating ones that had been canceled because they didn't meet the health law's standards.
The magnitude of Democratic support for a legislative solution will become clearer on Friday, when the House is set to vote on a separate Republican plan to let insurance companies continue to offer policies that were canceled recently. That vote may push Mr. Obama to move before Friday to offer his own administrative remedy or more fully embrace Ms. Landrieu's bill.
The White House shift came as more Democrats in Congress, fearful of a voter backlash due to the law, have lost confidence in administration assurances that the problems could be solved without changing the legislation.
"Sen. Landrieu's proposal shares a similar goal to what the president has asked his team to explore," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. "There may be ways to help some people with cancellation notices without legislation, but we are happy to work with her and any member of Congress who has ideas on how to make the Affordable Care Act better."
At least five Democratic senators have backed Ms. Landrieu's bill, with the latest, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.), joining on Wednesday. Support from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), which came on Tuesday, was considered significant because she is an influential senior lawmaker.
In the House, where every member is up for election in 2014, Democrats on Wednesday confronted two White House aides who were dispatched to Capitol Hill to explain that the administration was working to address flaws in the online marketplace and warn representatives that it would be a mistake to reinstate insurance policies that don't meet minimum standards set by the 2010 law.
While some Democrats emerged from the meeting circling the wagons around the White House, others said they would vote anyway on Friday for the Republican plan—or at least consider doing so.
"The frustration level is growing," said Rep. Jose Serrano (D., N.Y.) after leaving the closed-door Democratic strategy session. "The main message is there were three years to make this good, and it's not good. It's a mess right now."
The House bill is expected to come to an up-or-down vote Friday without any opportunity for lawmakers to offer amendments.
The news that only 106,185 people nationwide were able to enroll through the insurance sites in their first month came as a significant blow to the administration. In one memo, it had projected some 500,000 people would obtain private insurance in October. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that 40,000 to 50,000 people had obtained insurance from the federal exchange, but that reflected numbers from the first five weeks, rather than the first month.
Top administration officials had been bracing for a low number and sought to play down expectations. "There is no doubt the level of interest is strong. We expect enrollment will grow substantially throughout the next five months," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday.
The federal website serves consumers in 36 states. The remaining 14 states plus the District of Columbia are running their own exchanges, and several posted better numbers. California alone had more people enrolling in private health plans—35,364—than the 36 states using the federal site combined. Still, California's enrollees represent less than 1% of the state's 6.6 million people who lack health insurance.
In addition to private plans, many people are newly enrolling in Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor that is being expanded in roughly half of the 50 states. The administration said that some 396,261 Americans had signed up for the expanded Medicaid programs. It also highlighted data showing nearly a million Americans successfully completed applications to buy coverage, saying many of those ultimately would enroll as the HealthCare.gov site improves.
The White House opposes the Republican plan due for a vote Friday, offered by Rep. Fred Upton (R., Mich.). His bill would allow, but not require, insurance companies to continue offering plans that have been canceled. Unlike Ms. Landrieu's bill, it would allow insurers to sell those plans to new customers.
Democratic critics say Mr. Upton's bill would give insurers too much latitude to choose which plans to continue, allowing them to sell low-quality policies of the sort the Affordable Care Act was designed to ban.
They also argue the bill would allow healthier people to buy insurance outside the new insurance marketplaces, leaving sicker people in the new federal system and thus driving up premiums in 2015 and beyond. That, in turn, would threaten the long-term viability of the marketplaces and undercut the effort to cover millions of uninsured Americans.
Strong Democratic support for the GOP bill could embarrass the White House, but Rep. Kurt Schrader (D., Ore.) said he would vote for it. "My read is that [it] gets past some of the misunderstanding that's been generated by the president harping on the fact that your plan, you can keep it if you want to,'' he said.
A senior Democratic aide said the mood among Senate Democrats in recent days had shifted dramatically from taking a wait-and-see attitude, hopeful that the law's problems would blow over, to a more urgent desire to address problems created by the cancellation of policies and the troubled website.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) declined to comment on prospects for the Landrieu bill until after the Senate Democratic caucus meets Thursday in a special meeting called to hear from the administration on what it is doing to address the problems. Mr. Reid said Mr. Obama called him late Tuesday night, and that he was encouraged by what he heard about the health law.
Republicans were enjoying the "I told you so" moment as they watched Democrats scramble. "It's pretty clear now there is a stampede developing among House and Senate Democrats away from the law,'' said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who said he wouldn't vote for the Landrieu bill. "It'll be interesting to continue to observe our Democratic friends come to grips with the reality that everything the critics of Obamacare have said about it are, in fact, coming true."
A senior administration official said the White House is engaged in ongoing conversations with Democratic lawmakers to ensure they understand that the administration is acting swiftly to address their frustrations.
"We want something before the vote on Friday," said Rep. Patrick Murphy (D., Fla.), reflecting the heightened sense of urgency among Democrats.
Administration officials have said they want to help people who have had their policies canceled, do not qualify for subsidies and now are faced with higher premiums. But they haven't explained how. A senior administration official said that no decision had been made on whether an administrative fix would allow those individuals to keep their plans or would assist them with buying new coverage.
Democratic strategists say they are worried about the political fallout from the health law rollout for Democrats facing re-election fights in swing states.
Some were spooked by a new poll in North Carolina showing that approval of Sen. Kay Hagan (D., N.C.) had plummeted in recent weeks, after a barrage of GOP ads against her on health care. She has taken an aggressive stance to call for addressing the problems, and co-sponsored the Landrieu bill.
—Louise Radnofsky contributed to this article.
Write to Siobhan Hughes at siobhan.hughes@wsj.com, Janet Hook at janet.hook@wsj.com and Colleen McCain Nelson at colleen.nelson@wsj.com
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