Health exchange enrollment off to a smooth start

By Kyle Roerink

Monday, Nov. 17, 2014 | 11:36 a.m.

Alex Lombardo let out a deep sigh of relief.

He was enrolling for a health plan via the Affordable Care Act with local insurance broker Kirsten Sorenson.

A message flashed on her computer screen from the healthcare.gov website: “Your payment has been successfully submitted.”

Lombardo checked his bank account on his smartphone.

“Yup, it’s pending,” he said.

The scene Saturday was in stark contrast to the first day of open enrollment 13 months ago for plans offered through the act, commonly referred to as Obamacare.

Technical difficulties and other glitches with healthcare.gov stole headlines during last year’s open enrollment. Nationwide, only six people successfully enrolled on the first day.

This year, more than 100,000 people nationwide had submitted applications by Saturday evening with only a few minor problems reported. Health officials did not have figures on how many people in Nevada enrolled during the first two days.

The enrollment period ends Feb. 15.

Last year, Nevada consumers weren’t dealing with healthcare.gov, but they had their own set of issues trying to enroll via Nevada Health Link, the state-run equivalent of healthcare.gov.

The Nevada system, operating as part of the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, was also infected with glitches.

It kicked people off the site and collected payments from consumers without enrolling them in a health insurance program.

Lombardo, 55, was a casualty of Nevada Health Link’s problems.

He paid for a plan. But invoices from his doctor showed he didn’t have insurance.

He’s received letters from bill collectors seeking more than $1,000 in payments.

He joined a class-action lawsuit alleging negligence on the part of the state and Xerox, the company that built the flawed software for Nevada Health Link.

Because of the problems on the site, the state opted to ditch the Xerox system and connect to healthcare.gov.

Sorenson spent Saturday morning enrolling customers on healthcare.gov and the site functioned without a quirk.

She scrolled through indexes charting income levels, subsidy eligibility and amounts for copays, X-rays and myriad other health care costs consumers face at the doctor’s office.

She entered Lombardo’s personal information without headache. Within 20 minutes, Sorenson discovered Lombardo was eligible for two subsidies and found him a plan that saves him $346 a month from the premium’s market value.

“It will be better business this year,” Sorenson said.

State officials also took a different approach.

They expanded their marketing campaign and decided to have brick-and-mortar locations in Northern and Southern Nevada where consumers can enroll with the help of brokers and navigators.

The Las Vegas location is at Boulevard Mall. On Saturday morning, there was a line of consumers waiting to enroll before the doors opened at 9 am.

Silver State Health Insurance Exchange Executive Director Bruce Gilbert, who was there, said the outreach effort has “born fruit.”

Consumers can choose to enroll for insurance online without assistance. In Nevada, they can log onto Nevada Health Link, which will direct them to healthcare.gov.

But experts advise against it.

“People are better served by face-to-face interactions,” Gilbert said.