States Race To Make Last-Minute Health Exchange Improvements
With the second lap of enrollment about to begin, a number of states are making sure their call centers are staffed up and other consumer-friendly changes are ready. In other news, Politico Pro reports that some states are finding it difficult to recoup the money spent on botched websites. News outlets also report on specific developments in Idaho, Minnesota, Arizona, Missouri and Nevada.
The New York Times:
States Race To Improve Health Insurance Exchanges
Massachusetts and Minnesota have sharply increased the number of call center workers who will help people enroll in health plans through the states’ insurance exchanges. Colorado has created an online avatar named Kyla to guide consumers through the sign-up process. And Maryland has replaced its exchange, which floundered last year, with Connecticut’s successful model. (Goodnough, 11/11)
Politico Pro:
States Slow To Recoup Money For Botched Obamacare Sites
Some of the states that built Obamacare exchanges wasted tens of millions of dollars paying contractors to build websites that ultimately didn’t work. Some are still trying to get the money back but not very aggressively. And like most issues that concern the health law, state efforts to recover money from the botched exchanges are clouded by political accusations. (Pittman, 11/11)
The New York Times' The Upshot:
Affordable Care Act Enrollment FAQs
Common questions about open enrollment and the Affordable Care Act. (Margot Sanger-Katz, 11/11)
Politico Pro:
Idaho Bucks The Trend On Obamacare Exchanges
Idaho is about to become the only state to break up with HealthCare.gov to enroll people in Obamacare. The evolution in Idaho — which will run its own website for 2015 sign-ups — is a sharp contrast to some of its neighbors’ experiences during the health care law’s first year. The exchanges in Nevada and Oregon suffered from such dysfunctional technology that both states are moving to the federal exchange for at least the upcoming enrollment season. (Pradhan, 11/11)
Kaiser Health News:
Red State Idaho Launches Its Own Obamacare Exchange
Idaho on Saturday becomes the latest state to launch its own health insurance exchange under the federal health law, with marketplace officials promising an easier shopping experience for consumers and greater responsiveness to insurance agents. But the exchange, yourhealthidaho.org, will be challenged to do as well as the federal insurance exchange during the first open enrollment period that ended last March. About 76,000 Idahoans signed up for private coverage at healthcare.gov, one of the most successful enrollments in any state. (Galewitz, 11/12)
Minnesota Public Radio:
As Much As They Dislike MNsure, Republicans May Only Tinker With It
As much as members of the GOP frequently criticize MNsure — and promise much more scrutiny of the exchange during the session that begins in January — with a Democratic governor and Senate still in place, big changes in MNsure remain unlikely. (Pugmire, 11/11)
The Yuma Sun:
Local Agencies Brace For ACA Open Enrollment
The second annual open enrollment period for health insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act begins Saturday, Nov. 15, and a coalition of local health care agencies will mark the launch with educational fairs and events as part of the “Cover Yuma County” campaign. Last year consumers nationwide struggled to sign up via the broken Healthcare.gov website, and locals had the added glitch of two out of the six insurers they were given to choose from not actually contracting with any Yuma County providers. The available plans for 2015 were posted on Healthcare.gov Monday, and Justin Farren, business development director for Yuma Regional Medical Center, said history is repeating itself in at least one respect. (Herzog, 11/11)
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Missouri Consumers To Pay More For Health Coverage Next Year
Missouri health insurance consumers can get a first look at rates for 2015 coverage on HealthCare.gov, but they may be in for a bit of sticker shock.
St. Louis-area customers will have almost twice as many options to consider once open enrollment begins Saturday. Four insurers are selling a total of 42 different plans, a substantial increase from last year when only two carriers combined to sell 25 plans. ... But the increased competition isn’t necessarily driving down costs. (Shapiro, 11/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
New Nevada Health-Exchange Chief Faces Technology Shift
Nevada’s health exchange will look different this time around. After a bumpy first year, the exchange has uncoupled from its technology provider, Xerox Corp. , and connected instead to HealthCare.gov, the federal-government site. It also has a new leader, and new challenges. (Radnofsky, 11/11)
