This is Joseph Antos writing in the American (Link):
... The navigators, considered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to have a “vital role in helping consumers,” will only have 20 hours of training on the mechanics of applying for insurance with little or no emphasis on the different policies that are available. Many applicants are likely to enroll this fall in insurance plans they don’t understand, only to find out in January, when the coverage begins, that they made an expensive mistake.
In addition, sensitive personal information is at risk of being compromised, and there is no assurance that HHS can prevent it. Critical information, including social security numbers and details of employment, must be reported on the exchange application. Many applicants, unaware of the potential for fraud, will give that information to the person helping them complete the form.
The federal government, which will run exchanges in 34 states, faces similar problems. HHS has admitted that it is behind in testing its data systems, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned that exchanges may not be ready in all states by October.
No one should be surprised when widespread problems are reported during the first few weeks of exchange operation. Oregon announced that its online insurance exchange will not be made available to the public until at least the middle of October, giving the state more time to iron out problems. California has warned that its online enrollment process could be delayed. Other states are likely to follow suit when it becomes clear that computer systems are not ready for prime time.
The federal government, which will run exchanges in 34 states, faces similar problems. HHS has admitted that it is behind in testing its data systems, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned that exchanges may not be ready in all states by October.
The administration has also relaxed other requirements of the ACA as technical problems mount. In a July 5 regulation, HHS gave the 16 states setting up their own exchanges an additional year to implement procedures to verify an applicant’s income and employer health insurance status. The data “hub” that is supposed to give states the necessary personal information from eight federal agencies (including the Internal Revenue Service and Homeland Security) will not be ready in time. HHS’s recent one-week delay in signing contracts with health plans to be sold on the federal exchanges shows that the implementation process will extend well beyond October 1.
Regardless of who runs the exchanges, they will all have problems getting up and running. Establishing an insurance exchange is “highly complex . . . unprecedented and it’s not going to be smooth,” according to Kevin Counihan, chief executive of Connecticut’s health exchange who helped implement Massachusetts’s health reform. “This is a two- to three-year implementation we’re doing in 10 months. I wish I had a year.”
The bottom line: individuals will be able to purchase insurance through the exchanges if they are persistent. Those who can wait a while are likely to have an easier time of it. Given the complicated rules and conditions that must be met to buy insurance on the exchanges, this will never be a simple process. ...
