One change was made very quickly, Beilenson said, because of the time it takes to complete each application using a specialized electronic enrollment system.
Instead of trying to fill out each applicant's electronic application all at once, workers switched to accepting initial documents, then arranging to telephone each person at home to verify other information. If any more documents were needed, people were asked to come back to a later session and drop them off.
At the final October session, more than 50 people were lined up in a hallway, spilling out into the library entrance as they waited for the 4 p.m. start.
Maureen Pike, a newly hired employee, worked quickly to organize applicants into two lines - one for new applicants and the other for those dropping off requested documents. Each person got a number and friendly reassurance that he or she would be helped.
Cindy Carlisle, 50, of Ellicott City was at the back of the line, waiting to drop off a copy of her birth certificate and auto registration, she said. She had spent an hour on line earlier in October but didn't have everything she needed.
An unemployed office worker, Carlisle said her neck was injured when a man drove into the rear of her car three years ago and then backed up and drove away. Carlisle required several surgeries. She later lost her job and has no insurance.
"The way the economy is, there's a lot of people losing their jobs and homes," she said. "They'll be able to get the care they need."
Collin Laird, 25, of North Laurel sat near the front of the line, also waiting with pay stubs and other documents. He is a full-time college student, he said, while working part time as a restaurant server.
In eight years of working in retail since graduating from high school, he said, he has had health insurance for eight months.
"I just kinda feel like I'm OK, but I do have a worry that something horrible could happen," he said, adding that he needs dental work he can't afford.
The program began enrolling people Oct. 1, though medical treatment isn't scheduled to start until January.
A key element in the plan is using existing state and federal health programs to reduce the number of uninsured, and Beilenson said that Healthy Howard's electronic application system, imported from California, is proving a help with that. That is because the program contains eligibility information for other programs, so applying for one is tantamount to applying for all.
"This is a kind of side benefit of doing the Web-based enrollment because we have the rules for all these programs on it," Beilenson said.
So far, people have qualified for an expanded Kaiser Permanente low-cost program offering two years of insurance for up to 450 people, the federally funded State Children's Health Insurance Program and another state program called Primary Adult Care.
"This is about as much as we can handle," he said. "So far, it's been very successful."
