You might not have noticed it due to all the shutdown news, but the Affordable Care Act went live on Tuesday, glitches and all. Around 2.8 million people visited Healthcare.gov, the sign-up site, swamping the site with so much traffic that it caused spotty service. An additional 81,000 dialed into the help center. The problems on the website were not blamed on staff shortages, since most government employees involved in the law’s implementation weren't furloughed due to the shutdown. It was a rough day for the GOP too: after months of protesting the Affordable Care Act, many of its staunchest critics were too busy dealing with the shutdown to focus on the website glitches.