[Nfbmd] ACA information

Thu Dec 19 13:15:47 UTC 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARYLAND EXTENDS DEADLINE TO ENROLL IN COVERAGE THAT BEGINS ON JANUARY 1

ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 17, 2013) - Following an announcement yesterday
that CareFirst agreed to allow Maryland to extend the deadline by which
individuals and families must enroll in order to be covered on January
1, Governor O'Malley and Lt. Governor Brown today announced that all
other medical insurance carriers participating in Maryland Health
Connection have agreed to allow deadline extensions as well. 

All carriers have agreed to allow Maryland to extend the enrollment
deadline from December 23 to December 27. This means that Marylanders
who enroll in a Qualified Health Plan through Maryland Health Connection
by December 27 can have coverage that begins on January 1; consumers
would have until January 15 to pay for their coverage. Medical carriers
participating in Maryland Health Connection include CareFirst, Kaiser
Permanente, United Healthcare and Evergreen Health Co-Op.

To improve the trajectory of the project, Governor O'Malley and
Lieutenant Governor Brown recently changed the leadership structure for
the IT portion of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange and asked Isabel
FitzGerald, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Information
Technology, to lead the IT effort. Under Sec. FitzGerald's leadership,
the State just days ago announced that it met Governor O'Malley's
mid-December deadline for fixing nine major issues with the Maryland
Health Benefit Exchange website. Those nine fixes were focused on many
of the challenges that were causing users the most frustration.

The improvements to the site are reflected in unofficial daily data.
Based on preliminary data, yesterday saw a record high number of plan
selections in MarylandHealthConnection.gov, surpassing the record set
last Friday when IT teams completed fixing nine major issues that were
responsible for a majority of the issues that were negatively affecting
users.

"We know the improvements to MarylandHealthConnection.gov are making a
difference because we are seeing more and more people successfully
completing the process every day," Gov. O'Malley said. "We will continue
making improvements to the site, and we are pleased that all carriers
have agreed to extend the deadline for coverage so that we can continue
to work toward our goal of helping more Marylanders access quality,
affordable coverage." 

"As we continue to improve the website's functionality, we are working
to make it easier for Marylanders to get health care by working with the
insurance community to extend the deadline for Marylanders to sign up
for coverage on January 1st," said Lt. Governor Brown. "While we still
have work to do, we're committed to expanding access to quality
affordable care." 

Yesterday, the Administration announced that the Maryland Health Benefit
Exchange has brought in Optum/QSSI-a Columbia, Maryland company-to
improve the overall performance of the website. The company will focus
on enhancing the consumer experience by providing end-to-end project
management and operational support, as well as technological assessment
and recommendations.

Optum/QSSI is the general contractor that the federal government called
upon in October to work with CMS and other vendors to enhance the
stability and performance of the federal government's HealthCare.gov.

Also yesterday, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor announced that in
the lead up to the enrollment deadline, health exchange officials will
keep the call center open longer to maximize phone assistance to
consumers. In addition, through blast emails, regular mail, and
robo-calls, health exchange officials are contacting consumers who have
begun, but not completed, the application process to let them know how
to complete their eligibility determinations and enrollment.

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