A glitch in the Washington Health Benefit Exchange’s Healthplanfinder website cancelled enrollment and payments for 6,000 customers who’d bought qualified health plans for 2015.
Those customers are being asked to reconfirm their plan selection and resubmit payments (see the statement below for details). The Exchange board has ordered a full review of the website, according to a Tuesday statement.
The enrollment error is the latest in a series of glitches identified in the online insurance marketplace this fall, including a tax credit miscalculation error discovered on the first day of open enrollment. The Exchange is in the midst of its second enrollment period, after debuting in 2013.
Here is the full statement from Exchange CEO Richard Onizuka regarding the enrollment error discovered today.
“Today, the Exchange identified an error affecting 6,000 customer accounts enrolled in Qualified Health Plans. Early analysis indicates that our system integrator, Deloitte, ran an automated enrollment cancellation process in error. The affected accounts, which are a portion of the total number of customers who are enrolled in coverage starting on Jan. 1, 2015, experienced an erroneous cancellation of both their enrollment and payment for 2015 coverage.
We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused to our customers and do not take this issue lightly. We will reconfirm health care coverage for all of those who are impacted. Exchange Customer Support Representatives, staff members, navigators and registered insurance brokers are already working with impacted customers to help them reconfirm their 2015 coverage. Customers will also receive an additional communication from the Exchange via email or mail, depending on their communication preference, to ensure they are aware of the issue.
Impacted customers should take the following actions by Dec. 23 at 5:00 pm PST to ensure their coverage begins on Jan. 1, 2015:
· Sign in to their Washington Healthplanfinder account at www.wahealthplanfinder.org.
· From the account home screen, click on the “Select Plan” hyperlink under “My Household Coverage” to select a Qualified Health Plan.
· Re-submit payment. Please note that previous payments submitted to Washington Healthplanfinder will not be deducted from the customer’s account.
Customers may also call our Customer Support Center at 1-855-923-4633 and select a special menu option if they would like assistance to re-enroll in their Qualified Health Plan.
On Monday, the Exchange Board approved a motion to conduct a full review of the code and architecture behind the Washington Healthplanfinder marketplace. We are committed to providing a better customer experience to Washington residents and are taking aggressive steps to ensure our IT vendors are delivering us a quality product and our customers are receiving an excellent online experience.
Again, we apologize for this error and will work with all affected customers to reinstate their coverage as quickly as possible.”
