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People looking to enroll in Medicaid or apply for tax credits for the coverage of private health insurance coverage will still be able to submit an application through the D.C. online exchange, DC Health Link. Offline experts will complete the initial calculations and determinations offline, according to a news release. People who have applied for tax credits will receive their eligibility determination in early November. The release didn't indicate an expected deployment date for the delayed exchange functions.
Earlier this month, W. Brett Graham of the consulting firm Leavitt Partners — which tracks exchange progress across the country — told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that most, if not all, of the state-facilitated exchanges created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will experience a bumpy start because of ongoing technology challenges. Some states have experienced problems integrating the health insurance exchange technology with Medicaid and other systems, and some have had to cut back on planned functions such as online chat capabilities for the exchange websites, Mr. Graham told lawmakers.
The D.C. exchange isn't the only one to report running into some stumbling blocks so far. Oregon officials have said the state's online health insurance exchange, Cover Oregon, will launch on Oct. 1 but will not be fully accessible until mid-October or later.
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