State Officials Cite Technology Problems on Health Insurance Sites

WASHINGTON - Officials from five states, on the defensive at a congressional hearing, said Thursday that their health insurance exchanges had been hobbled by technology problems like those that bedeviled the federal marketplace. But they said their states were recovering.

The states - Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Oregon - all have Democratic governors who support the Affordable Care Act. They built their own exchanges with millions of dollars of federal money, but many residents in all five states were frustrated as they tried to enroll online last fall.

'Our rollout was rocky,' said Scott Leitz, the interim chief executive of the Minnesota exchange. 'Our launch was plagued by software errors and technical glitches.'

Greg Van Pelt, an adviser to Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon, said the website there was 'only partially functioning.'

Tom Matsuda, the interim executive director of the Hawaii exchange, said that it had received $205 million in federal grants and enrolled only 7,600 people. That works out to an average of $27,000 for each person enrolled, Republicans said at the hearing, which was held by two panels of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Representative James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, asked how the five states, after receiving a billion dollars in federal grants, could have such difficulty.

'And how many more taxpayers' dollars will be required to bail out state exchanges?' he asked.

Democrats at the hearing were still jubilant over the White House announcement that more than seven million people had signed up for private insurance through federal and state exchanges in the six-month open enrollment period that ended on Monday. Obama administration officials said they did not know how many of the new policyholders were previously uninsured.

Based on their quarterly surveys, however, researchers at the Urban Institute estimate that 5.4 million uninsured adults have gained coverage through private health insurance or Medicaid.

Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, the chairman of the Maryland health exchange, and Jean Yang, executive director of the Massachusetts exchange, blamed information technology companies for many of their problems.

Dr. Sharfstein came close to an apology, saying, 'I deeply regret the frustration that many Marylanders have experienced.' The state announced this week that it would use technology developed by the Connecticut exchange, which has performed well.

Hawaii and Massachusetts used technology provided by the CGI Group, the main contractor for construction of the federal exchange.

Republican efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act continue, despite the surge in enrollment in the past few weeks.

The House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday relaxing a requirement for larger employers to offer health insurance to full-time employees, defined as those who work at least 30 hours a week. Employers that do not offer coverage are subject to financial penalties.

The bill was approved by a vote of 248 to 179, with support from 18 Democrats. It would change the definition of 'full-time employee' and raise the threshold to 40 hours a week.

The Congressional Budget Office said the bill would reduce the number of people receiving employment-based coverage and increase the number of uninsured. It would also increase federal budget deficits by a total of nearly $74 billion over 10 years, mainly because the government would collect less in penalty payments from employers, the budget office said.

The chief sponsor of the bill, Representative Todd Young, Republican of Indiana, said that employers were cutting workers' hours to avoid the cost of providing them health benefits.

'We are talking about custodians, cafeteria workers and substitute teachers at your child's school,' Mr. Young said. 'We are talking about the waitresses and busboys at your favorite restaurant, about the cashier who rings you out at the grocery store.'

House Democrats said the bill was another Republican attempt to sabotage the health care law, and President Obama threatened to veto it.

Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, said the bill would allow giant retailers and fast-food restaurant chains to deny insurance to employees working 30 to 39 hours a week and making as little as $7.25 an hour.

'They can't afford to provide hourly employees with health care?' Mr. Miller asked. 'Give me a break.'

Senators Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, and Joe Donnelly, Democrat of Indiana, have introduced a similar bill. Standing alone, it would have little chance of approval in the Senate, where Democrats are in the majority.

However, Ms. Collins suggested this week that a change in the definition of 'full-time employee,' for the purpose of health insurance, could be included in a bipartisan compromise over an increase in the minimum wage.