Existing Vermont Health Connect customers looking to renew coverage during the open enrollment period that starts Nov. 15 will be asked to avoid the exchange’s web portal, a state official said.
Chief of Health Care Reform Lawrence Miller said the VHC web portal is expected to relaunch before Nov. 15, but those seeking changes will be encouraged to use a paper application or call the customer service call center. Navigators can help customers make those calls.
Existing users will be able to renew coverage online, but will have to fill out a new application, which will then be linked on the back end to their existing account, he said.
Miller also said that customers who renew without making changes to their coverage will be auto-mapped into that same coverage. That process will start Nov. 15 and is expected to be finished by Dec. 5. Open enrollment ends Feb. 15.
Nationally, the expectation is that 15 percent of people renewing exchange coverage will seek a change from last year, but Vermont Health Connect will be prepared to process changes for as many as 60 percent of the existing 31,000 individual market customers.
Miller said the state’s contractor Optum is currently loading the 2015 plan data, and that Optum and state workers continue to work on existing change requests, a process they hope to complete before open enrollment.
There will be improvements to the web portal when it’s relaunched, including a login button on the home page and faster page load times. Problematic questions in the application process have been amended so they’re less likely to cause confusion, Miller said.
Vermont Health Connect has resolved its security issues, according to Miller, and the back end of the exchange has been reconnected to the federal data hub used to verify people’s income and citizenship.
An automated process to make changes to coverage or personal information won’t be available during open enrollment, Miller said, adding that the exchange plans to “freeze code” during open enrollment, so it doesn’t create unanticipated problems.
The automated changes should be an option by March, Miller said.
He did not say when the small businesses required to purchase employee health insurance through the exchange will be able to use the web portal.
For the upcoming open enrollment period, the two participating insurance carriers will enroll small businesses directly.
