Alaskans received an extra day to enroll in the federal healthcare exchange Monday morning and local organizations navigating coverage options are seeing a slight uptick in interest.
The Obama administration extended the deadline to enroll to midnight Tuesday; recognizing high demand may impact customer’s ability to enroll through the inundated and troubled website, Healthcare.gov. While 36 states rely on the federal website, including Alaska, to enroll, 14 states have their own exchange websites.
The rush to enroll coupled with the federal website’s well-documented troubles has led to a meager influx of questions related to coverage options and those ready to jump online and enroll.
Tyann Boling, executive director with Enroll Alaska, a for-profit subsidy of Northrim Bank designed to help individuals with the enrollment and website navigation process, explained the recent influx in individuals interested in enrolling and/or exploring their coverage options is connected to the deadline as well as the improvements made to the website.
“We’re happy to see the influx in people interested in enrolling,” Boling said. “However, demand is not what it should be.”
While Boling admits the most recent influx in interest over the past week has been more likely deadline-driven, depending on the complexities of the needed coverage, navigating the website can be a turn-off for prospective customers.
“The majority (of customers) want to enroll,” Boling said. “Now with the website working well, there is more reason to enroll.”
But glitches still exist, Boling said, and those glitches have come at inopportune times for those with complex coverage requirements.
United Way of Anchorage spokeswoman Sandy McClintock said the organization’s four navigators across the state are all booked up Monday.
McClintock said it was about a week ago when United Way workers started seeing more customers interested in exploring the exchange. As the deadline drew closer, McClintock said more people started taking action, asking questions and exploring their options.
In total United Way workers have enrolled 65 customers through the exchange as of Dec. 20, McClintock said. Enroll Alaska has enrolled more than 600 customers, Boling said. However, Boling expected as many as 10,000 customers to enroll.
That disparity in expectations has prompted Boling to suggest extending the enrollment deadline for Alaskans even further in the hopes of reaching the more rural and uninformed communities.
“The diversity of challenges people in parts of Alaska face is more complex than other states for enrollment,” Boling said.
The lackluster number of Alaskans successfully enrolled in the exchange reflects similar national numbers, thanks to early problems with the website during its introduction.
Policy pricing is based on a ranking system from bronze to silver, gold or platinum packages. The bronze options have the lowest monthly premiums but include high deductibles. Customers who upgrade to a silver plan could reduce the deductible, while platinum plans have the lowest average deductible.
Those who are not enrolled for coverage by the end of this week will not be covered at the start of 2014, but they have until the end of March to sign up and avoid a fine for being uninsured.