What’s the sound of an Obamacare state exchange in its death throes? For Cover Oregon, it’s the sound of a disembodied human voice robocalling to warn applicants that if they don’t receive enrollment confirmation by Monday, they should seek coverage elsewhere to be in compliance come Jan. 1.
Oregon Live has the text of the pre-recorded message, which follows:
If you haven’t heard from us by Dec. 23, it is unlikely your application will be processed for Jan. 1 insurance. If you want to be sure you have insurance coverage starting Jan. 1, you have other options.
In other words, look elsewhere.
This latest epic fail is yet another sign that Oregon’s health insurance exchange continues to be plagued by “glitches,” which will prevent many Oregonians from getting coverage by the New Year deadline — this Gov. John Kitzhaber’s previous assurances otherwise. So far, the exchange reports having enrolled 30,000 of 65,000 applicants.
Cover Oregon spokesman Michael Cox said Friday that the exchange will continue to process applications in the hopes of meeting its Dec. 27 enrollment deadline for January coverage, adding that applicants who get a call after Monday might still be able to enroll by year’s end. Nevertheless, he added, the robocalls were launched to address mounting concerns among applicants about possible gaps in coverage.
