Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Nevada’s health care exchange still dealing with ‘a lot of errors’

Nevada’s online health exchange is still facing bugs that make it difficult for people to sign up for insurance, a state official told a committee today.

July marks nine months since the Silver State Exchange launched its online enrollment system. Nevada is one of 17 states that created its own exchange to implement President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

But the exchange’s online software has been plagued with glitches that started even before its launch. Today’s meeting signals that the problems continue.

“There are a lot of errors currently in the system,” Laura Rich, quality assurance officer at the Silver State Exchange, told an advisory committee to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Consumers have reported paying for insurance premiums without receiving coverage or having to wait months for coverage. Other consumers reported not receiving tax credits, even though they were eligible.

Rich said 37,000 Nevadans enrolled and received coverage. That’s about 31 percent of the exchange’s initial goal of 118,000 by the end of March.

“It was a guesstimate. No. We didn’t reach those numbers,” she said.

Nevada and Oregon are now working to connect with the federal software system. Both states are working daily with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS, to develop a transition plan, Rich said.

“A lot of what is happening is undeveloped,” Rich said. “We have to wait for CMS to provide guidance.”

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