Dive Brief:
- The beginning of the second open enrollment period on November 15 was marked by a smooth roll-out compared to last year's disastrous launch. According to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, 100,000 individuals submitted new applications on the first day of enrollment and 500,000 Americans who already have coverage were able to log into their accounts.
- Still, at least one of the 14 states that run their own exchanges did face a few problems with their launches. Washington's Healthplanfinder shut down Saturday evening when officials realized that the site was generating faulty premium tax credit calculations. It was back online by Sunday morning.
- Not all states are fully online for reasons other than glitches. In Maryland, a planned multi-stage approach to the roll-out is in place, with open enrollment not coming online until Wednesday.
Dive Insight:
Notably, Massachusetts had no major glitches over the weekend. The site of one of the most disastrous state roll-outs in the first enrollment period, Massachusetts saw 6,000 individuals receive eligibility determination on Saturday, with another 3,000 following as of 2 P.M. on Sunday, according to a spokesperson for the exchange. "Generally, the system works as expected, with no large-scale issues," said Jason Lefferts. Of course, it cost them. Massachusetts' website was originally estimated at $174 million; That figure has leapt to $254 million after the state retained new IT vendors and labored through months of rigorous testing.