Last week, President Barack Obama announced the exchanges had blown past the Congressional Budget Office's enrollment goal of 6 million, reaching 7.1 million enrollees by March 31.
Most state-based health insurance exchanges have been successful, with several (Vermont, Connecticut and the District of Columbia) exceeding projected 2014 enrollment by March 1, according to a report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute.
However, not all of the state exchanges have been running smoothly. Like HealthCare.gov, the following five states have experienced technical problems with their exchange websites that interfered with enrollment, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
1. Oregon. Because of technical problems with the Oregon exchange website, the federal government has allowed Oregon to extend 2014 open enrollment through the end of this month. Although people can submit applications through the website, Cover Oregon, they have to be processed manually. Last month, in response to requests from Republican members of Congress, the Government Accountability Office announced it will launch an investigation into the use of $304 million in federal grants that funded Cover Oregon.
2. Maryland. Maryland's exchange website crashed not long after it launched last fall. As of March 28, only 49,293 people had enrolled in private health plans through the exchange, far short of the 150,000 people Maryland had hoped to sign up by March 31. The exchange's board of directors has decided to replace the technology behind the glitch-ridden Maryland Health Benefit Exchange. Reps. Andy Harris (R-Md.), MD, and Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) have written to HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson requesting an investigation into the "the flagrant waste and abuse of taxpayer monies" that funded Maryland's health insurance exchange.
3. Massachusetts. As of mid-March, Massachusetts was still working on its exchange site and had about 84,000 residents on temporary health insurance plans. According to the Wall Street Journal, the state originally used CGI Group as its contractor, the same company the federal government initially enlisted to build HealthCare.gov. Massachusetts is working to cut ties with CGI, which the federal government has already replaced with Accenture.
4. Nevada. For those affected by technical problems with the state exchange website, Nevada has established a special enrollment period that runs through May 30. Insurers have been receiving incorrect payment and enrollment information from the exchange site. Nevada residents have filed a class-action lawsuit against the exchange and the contractor that built it, Xerox, on the grounds that the errors led to them not getting insurance even though they paid their premiums.
5. Hawaii. Although about 7,200 people have enrolled in health plans through the state exchange website, technical problems have led to a backlog of about 11,000 applications in Hawaii. The low number of enrollees casts doubt on the long-term viability of the exchange, according to the Journal.
More Articles on Health Insurance Exchanges:
Maryland to Rebuild Health Insurance Exchange Website
Massachusetts Insurance Exchange to Fire Healthcare.gov Contractor CGI Group
Oregon Congressman Seeks to Extend Enrollment for State-Based Exchanges