More people complain about health insurance limbo

SEATAC, Wash. -- Since open enrollment started Saturday, thousands of people in our state have applied for health insurance for 2015 through the Affordable Care Act, but Wednesday the board that oversees the state's health benefit exchange got an earful from people complaining they're still in limbo for 2014.

This is a really serious problem the exchange hasn't been able to fix: people who pay their premiums only to find out they're not covered when they need to see a doctor.

A king five investigation found a pattern of missed deadlines and lax accountability at the exchange. And today there were more stories of frustration.

'My payments are a complete mess, nobody knows what's going on with them,' said Teresa Phillips of Aberdeen.

Phillips drove two hours to tell her story to the Washington Health Benefit Exchange Board, at a meeting in SeaTac. Months of premiums paid to the exchange, yet not sent to her insurance company, leaving her family in limbo.

'A lot of stress, tears, sometimes anger and I'm not sure I have the energy to fight it again next year,' she told them.

Phillips words appeared to strike a chord with board members, who've been demanding a fix from the Exchange Staff and their contractor Deloitte, since last summer.

'The fact that people are having to spend hours out of their day to come here and share their story are heartbreaking and it's very frustrating for us, I can't imagine what it's been like for you,' said board member Teresa Mosqueda.

The Exchange now estimates roughly 6000 families are having billing problems or are in coverage limbo.

That includes Debbie Van Straten of Tacoma. Her husband was recently turned down for a crucial follow-up procedure, a CT scan.

'It continues to delay our care. Our care is now 3 months behind due,' said Van Straten.

Van Straten said she's called the customer support center again and again to no avail.

'Last Friday I said, 'You're not hanging up. I'm going to stay on the phone.' I was on the phone two hours. Did they get it fixed? No,' Van Straten said.

There were exchange specialists standing by at today's meeting, ready to help the people who testified and investigate their cases.

One of the problems throughout this whole ordeal has been getting firm numbers from the exchange on how many people are affected.

Today we heard that 6,000 accounts are affected, which could mean a family of one or a family of four. While that sounds like a lot, it's a small fraction of the thousands who signed up for insurance and are getting their medical care.

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