Health insurer Humana has halved its expectations for the health insurance exchange open enrollment period and predicts federal officials will push back the sign-up deadline because of technical issues with the federal exchange site, according to a Reuters report.
The insurer now anticipates signing on only 250,000 new members during the initial open enrollment period for the exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act because of the federal exchange site's glitch-ridden rollout, according to the report.
Since its launch last month, HealthCare.gov has experienced numerous problems such as people not being able to create accounts and crashes because of high traffic. HHS and CMS officials have said they are working around the clock to fix the errors and expect the site to run smoothly for most users by the end of this month.
Open enrollment is scheduled to end March 31, but Humana COO Jim Murray told investors yesterday the insurer has assumed federal officials will extend the open enrollment period, according to the report.
However, at a Senate hearing yesterday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius dismissed the idea of prolonging the enrollment period. She told lawmakers it's still early on in the six-month open enrollment period and people have plenty of time to enroll, according to the report.
More Articles on Health Insurance Exchanges:
Healthcare.gov Troubleshooters Make Progress Despite New Issues
Most Exchange Enrollees Applying for Medicaid
Democrats Propose Individual Mandate Delay Until HealthCare.gov Fixed