As U.S. states have opened online marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act, some have found technical challenges. In Oregon, the state's healthcare marketplace – called Cover Oregon – has been unable to process applications due to technical errors. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber said that the glitches could prevent people from meeting a key deadline to attain coverage for 2014, according to OregonLive. To alleviate the problem, however, Cover Oregon is undergoing a creative solution: 400 temporary workers will process paper applications until the website is fixed.
What's preventing the successful completion of policies is that Cover Oregon is unable to determine tax credit eligibility for online applicants. The organization has received 12,000 applications covering a total of 24,000 individuals, but cannot specify who will receive federal financial assistance on insurance premiums. Until the website is fixed, temp employees will review applications manually to determine eligibility.
Once they find out who is qualified, the individuals will be sent enrollment packets through the mail. Applicants must fill them out and send them back for processing before they are officially enrolled. In order to be covered at the start of 2014, the entire process must be finished by Dec. 15.
