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Many Visitors, Few Enrollees So Far For State Health Insurance Exchange

In the first of what it calls “regular updates on key metrics and information,” the state’s health insurance exchange announced today that 326 people enrolled in a health insurance plan between the website’s opening on October 1st and midnight on Sunday evening. (Update: a spokesperson for the exchange said in an email that they did not have exact numbers of Medicaid enrollees versus private insurance enrollees). Another 566 people have had their federal tax subsidy determined but have not yet enrolled in a plan.

Maryland Health Connection released data that showed that 13,532 users created accounts and had their identity verified during that period. The exchange website, marylandhealthconnection.gov, saw 174,023 unique visitors.

Maryland has a goal of enrolling 150,000 to 180,000 uninsured people into a health plan on the exchange by March 31st. The state hopes an additional 100,000 low-income people will enroll in Medicaid.

Maryland Health Connection’s first day was plagued by technical problems as well as slow load times, a problem attributed in part to heavy volume. But the lag persisted. State officials cited the process for creating a user account as a main cause of the backup. The Washington Post reported that Kentucky and Connecticut’s exchanges fared better, perhaps because users could shop for plans without first creating a user account. The federal government website that is enrolling people in 36 states has also seen major delays. In the press release, Maryland Health Connection said, “We are in the process of addressing technical issues on the website to improve the application and enhance users’ experience; we are working around the clock to make the site better.”

Uninsured Marylanders have until December 18th to enroll and pay their first installment if they want coverage on January 1st. The open enrollment period ends March 31st. Call center assistance is available at 1-855-642-8572. Consumer assistance information can be found here.