Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Some State Marketplaces That Had Problems With Sign-Ups Last Year Show Progress
Washington's health care exchange had problems last weekend as open enrollment began. But lawmakers, citizens and the members of the board that oversees the Washington Healthplanfinder are more concerned about problems lingering since last year. At a legislative committee meeting Tuesday in Olympia and again at a board meeting Wednesday near Seattle, the refrain heard over and over again was: Why haven't you fixed the problems preventing people from using the insurance they bought during the previous open enrollment period? (Blankinship, 11/19)
Heavy volume on the newly opened Maryland health exchange website pushed those looking to buy insurance into virtual waiting rooms for up to a half-hour Wednesday morning. Wednesday had been billed as the day the public would gain full access to the newly rebuilt website. Officials and those using the portal said the online delays were resolved later in the day. The hiccup could reflect the level of interest in buying insurance on the site — which officials said was designed to accommodate thousands of users at a time. (Cohn, 11/19)
Not everyone is happy with the MNsure website, but health exchange officials say there are clear signs of improvement. Since open enrollment started Saturday, more than 1,500 people have signed up for commercial coverage through the MNsure website, health exchange officials said Wednesday. (Snowbeck, 11/19)
More than 4,700 people have used the MNsure website to enroll in public or private health plans since open enrollment for 2015 started Saturday morning. ... An estimated two-thirds of enrollees signed up for government-sponsored health plans. A little more than 1,500 signed up for private health insurance. That's many more than last year at the same time. In the first two weeks of the 2013 enrollment, 400 had signed up.(Zdechlik, 11/19)
Also in the news, state officials questioned the head of the agency overseeing the federal health marketplace about a Supreme Court case that could affect subsidies to help consumers pay for premiums.
State insurance regulators raised questions this week with CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner about how a state-based exchange should be defined, in the event that the Supreme Court upholds a legal challenge to Obamacare’s insurance subsidies. (Pradhan, 11/19)
