Capitol Hill staffers are hitting multiple obstacles in trying to enroll in the Obamacare exchange just days before the federal government’s deadline for getting coverage.
They and lawmakers have until Monday to sign up on DC Health Link, the District’s insurance exchange, if they want to maintain the government’s generous employer contribution to their health insurance.
But as crunch time approaches, Democratic and Republican staffers are getting error messages, denials, notices that they’re enrolled in multiple plans and incomplete confirmation — as well as a website that went down briefly Thursday.
Officials at DC Health Link say that they are working quickly to fix each problem. But the snags are causing a lot of frustration and grief.
“Anyone else not able to log in or use [the site]?” Jessica Vanden Berg, chief of staff to Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), wrote late Thursday to other Democratic chiefs of staff in an email obtained by POLITICO. “No one in my office can today.”
In response to the continued issues, the House chief administrative officer asked the Office of Personnel Management to immediately ensure that members and staff can enroll and get a proper confirmation notice.
“With the end of the open enrollment period drawing near, we have made the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and DC Health Link aware of the significant problems preventing Members and staff in Washington D.C. and in district offices from enrolling in a healthcare plan via the DC Health Link website,” Strodel wrote in an email circulated to the Hill on Thursday night.
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Several staffers said that any log-in name they entered on the website came back with a rejection notice or that once they enrolled, they didn’t get an actual confirmation of coverage, making many nervous that they’d be uninsured as of Jan. 1. Their experiences parallel some of the troubles that million of Americans confronted following the disastrous launch of the federal HealthCare.gov portal.
“On three separate occasions, we were … asked to re-submit our personal information (Social Security numbers and dates of birth) for each person in our family,” one Senate staffer said of the local exchange.
Others got rejection alerts because they live in Virginia or Maryland but were trying to sign up on the D.C. exchange. District officials blamed that error on staffers applying for individual or family coverage instead of policies through the small business exchange, or SHOP.
Government regulations under the health law require them to use SHOP if they want to continue receiving the regular employer contribution to their health plans. Staffers’ worry is that if they’re not successfully enrolled by Monday’s deadline, they‘ll lose a benefit that amounts to up to 75 percent of their premium costs.
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“We have heard both very positive and some negative feedback,” said Richard Sorian, a spokesman for DC Health Link, which has had experts on Capitol Hill since Monday to help people enroll. “We have worked to address problems as they arise. … We in no way minimize problems, but our goal is to continuously improve and provide in-person assistance.”
One Senate aide said the D.C. Health Link website did not recognize the “U.S. Senate” as a legitimate employer, and he couldn’t fix that error until he attended one of the exchange’s several informational sessions.
“They’re frustrated because they’re trying to find the details to what the deductibles will be and what the premium will be – pretty basic buying decision questions – but they don’t have them,” said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.).
A House Republican staff assistant’s name was misspelled in a census that DC Health Link got from the House, and that prevented him from signing up. Exchange officials only figured out the problem after several phone calls and “wasted” hours later, the aide said.
“It’s been hours and hours and hours spent,” Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) said of her aides’ sign-up efforts. Some individuals still haven’t been able to finish their applications despite that time and effort. “They’re concerned because it’s not like they haven’t tried.”
Black said that while her younger staffers are making out better in terms of what they’re paying and the health services they are getting, older staffers and those with children are seeing major increases in premiums.
The rising costs for older staffers is a concern across the Hill. Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) said one of his aides, a 56-year-old woman, will see her premium double to $800 a month.
But it’s not all bad. Several staffers told POLITICO that they were pleased with their coverage once they could check out their options and complete the process.
“After a lot of inner debate and analysis over the way too many choices, the actual sign up took about 10 minutes,” said one Democratic staffer. “And I’m saving money,” the aide said, jokingly likening it to a raise as the Hill deals with the budgetary fallout of sequestration.
One location that has seen a slew of success in signing up under Obamacare: the office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), whose signature legislative accomplishment as former House speaker was the Affordable Care Act. Pelosi is putting her entire staff on the exchange, although under Obamacare, she could have kept her leadership aides on the existing federal benefits program.
For Ethan McClelland, a 27-year-old special assistant to Pelosi, that will mean paying a monthly premium of $56, compared to $127 previously, according to Pelosi’s office. Michael Bloom, a 30-year-old Pelosi senior adviser, is paying about the same per month, although he is newly married and needed to add his spouse on his health care plan.
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