The glitches in HealthCare.gov have kept some of the people with the greatest need—those with serious, chronic illnesses—from getting the private health insurance they've been promised by the Affordable Care Act. Because of these problems, the administration has decided to
keep the federally funded high-risk pools running through January.
"Today, as part of our efforts to smooth the transition to the Marketplaces for those seeking coverage that begins in January, we are taking steps to ensure that Americans enrolled in the federal PCIP insurance plan will not face a lapse when the new year begins." Medicare spokesman Aaron Albright said in a statement. "We are committed to providing consumers additional flexibilities while they evaluate and select a quality, affordable, health plan that meets their needs.”
Some officials involved with the program estimate that only about half of those high-risk enrollees in some states have successfully enrolled in insurance coverage through HealthCare.Gov.
The PCIP is the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, a program set up by Obamacare as a stop-gap in 2010 to provide coverage to people with serious illnesses who had not been able to purchase insurance otherwise. It was intended to end December 31, 2013, when the full law kicks in and they can get coverage on the exchanges. HHS has
directed the administrators of federally-funded high-risk pools in every state to call their enrollees and determine if they have been able to get onto the exchange and find coverage. Apparently, enough people haven't had success yet to convince the administration to continue the stop-gap coverage.
The process for many of these people hasn't just been made harder by the problems with a web site that hasn't functioned. It is complicated by the complexities of their health care. They need to find plans that will allow them to stay with the doctors and the facilities that have provided their care, as well as coverage for prescriptions and procedures that might not be standard. That deep level of information just isn't available on the federal exchanges, because of the breadth of the states and the systems it has to include. That kind of information has to be searched out with the individual insurance companies, a long and difficult process for many. Giving them more time to complete this process was a no-brainer.
