The sign-up deadline for health insurance under Obamacare closed Monday with a surge in enrollment nationwide. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the federal website, as well as local offices in multiple states. The Obama administration says it expects to well surpass its original goal of seven million enrollees. At the White House, Press Secretary Jay Carney said the program had overcome the botched rollout of six months ago.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney: “There has been a remarkable story since the dark days of October and November, which has resulted in a situation where here, on the last day of enrollment, we’re looking at a number substantially larger than six million people enrolled. And I dare say that there are few people in this room, including some of the folks who work in the White House, who would have predicted that we would get to that number.”

The federal website stopped working for several hours on Monday after a software glitch. The deadline has been extended until mid-April for those who tried to sign up but were unable to complete their enrollment. Some estimates have put the number of previously uninsured receiving coverage under Obamacare at as high as 9.5 million. The program marks the nation’s largest expansion of healthcare coverage since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.