Source: Herald-Times, Bloomington, Ind.迷你倉Oct. 24--Area residents eager to shop for health insurance are growing increasingly frustrated by the cascade of computer problems that have marred the Oct. 1 rollout of the federally run Indiana online marketplace."I and my staff are hearing from a lot of people who are anxious and upset that the marketplace website is still not functioning," said Scott Stowers, regional manager of IU Health Bloomington Individual Solutions, which has 12 trained "navigators" ready and willing to help people enroll online. "They're unhappy that they can't sign up, and that they can't get specific information about how much their premiums and deductibles and co-pays would be."That frustration is reflective of what folks are feeling across the country about the problem-plagued website -- healthcare.gov -- billed as a user-friendly online marketplace where people can view a detailed menu of various health insurance plans and possible subsidies.A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that just 7 percent of Americans say the unveiling of the marketplace has gone "very" or "extremely" well. It showed that of the 830 people who said they tried to log onto the marketplace site, 50 percent received a message asking them to "Wait: Try again later" and 38 percent said they received an "error" message.Software developers assigned to build the $300 million website anonymously told the Associated Press this week they'd expressed concern to the administration a year ago that the system was not ready due to deficiencies in its computer code and the design of the software meant to link key computer systems.President Barack Obama addressed the issue at a news conference Monday, saying there was "no excuse" for the bugs that have stymied the site. He said the product -- health insurance offered to uninsured Americans through the Affordable Care Act -- is good, but the delivery of that product to the public has been abysmal. He said technology experts from inside and outside the government are working round-the-clock to iron out the glitches.The administration has tweaked the home page so visitors can now view a phone number -- 800-318-2596 -- to call to apply. And they can now window shop for insurance rates without registering first. The White House said it has increased staffing at call centers by 50 percent, and is advising people to enroll by phone until the marketplace problems are resolved.Be patientBut Stowers said navigators are recommending people wait until the online marketplace is functional, even though that might not occur for several more weeks."I've been told by one of the marketplace representatives that the government's new target date for the marketplace to be自存倉fully functional is Nov. 18," Stowers said."So we are recommending that clients not enroll by phone, or by mailing in paper applications, because all roads will eventually lead to the marketplace website."Stowers said if you mail in a paper application, it would sit in a box until Nov. 18, when a government official would manually enter the data into health care.gov, and then you'd have to wait for the federal government to call you back with specific information about the various plans. Then you'd need to log onto the website and pick a plan. He said if you submit an application by phone you'll still have to log onto the website later and choose a plan.Because online applicants must submit more than 50 pieces of personal information, Stowers said now is a good time to be gathering documents on things like taxes and income."Once the website starts working, people can choose a plan and make their premium payment at that time," he said. "But if you've already sent it a paper application when you enroll online, it could create a duplicate application."Stowers said the eight navigators stationed at Individual Solutions at 413 S. Landmark Ave. (there are also two navigators each at IU Health Bedford Hospital and IU Health Paoli Hospital) had to postpone individual appointments with 40 clients last week."We have talked with people and kept them informed about what's going on with the marketplace," he said. "But so far, because of the problems with the website, we have not been able to help anyone enroll."Numbers elusiveWhite House officials say since Oct. 1 more than 476,000 applications have been filed through the 36 federally run and 16 state-run marketplaces, but so far have refused to say how many people have actually bought policies. Without those figures it's unclear whether the program is on track to reach the 7 million uninsured Americans projected by the Congressional Budget Office to gain coverage during the six-month sign up period. There are roughly 30 million Americans without insurance.The Affordable Care Act is counting on premiums from young, healthy people to help finance the program, but some experts fear the website glitches will cause the sign ups to fall, driving up premiums for everyone.If you are uninsured, you have until Dec. 15 to buy a plan and pay the first month's premium if you want it to go into effect Jan. 1, 2014. You have until mid-February to sign up for coverage and pay the first month's premium to meet the law's requirement to be insured by the end of March -- or pay a tax penalty.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Ind.) Visit the Herald-Times (Bloomington, Ind.) at .heraldtimesonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉
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