With open enrollment for Vermont Health Connect just a few days away, state Reps. Heidi Scheuermann, R-Stowe, and Patti Komline, R-Dorset, are renewing their call for Gov. Peter Shumlin to allow Vermonters to work directly with their insurance carriers if they so choose to renew their coverage, to enroll in coverage, or to inquire about coverage.
“While the governor has stated he’s hopeful that the Vermont Health Connect website will be up and running by the start of the open enrollment period, it is crystal clear that, even if it is, there are still monumental hurdles to overcome,” Komline said. “Even the administration has acknowledged the vast failures of the system, with officials instructing Vermonters, incredibly, to not use the website or the call center for open enrollment. Of all things, in this day and age, they are pleading with Vermonters to use snail mail.”
“There remain over 13,000 Vermonters stuck in limbo — their change requests unresolved, not knowing if they and their families have insurance, if their payments have been processed, and if they get sick if they will be covered,” Scheuermann said. “In addition, as of a few days ago, of the 32,000 Vermonters enrolled in Vermont Health Connect, 21,000 receive federal subsidies for coverage, yet 14,000 of those have not had their incomes verified.”
“In July, and again in September, Rep. Scheuermann and I called upon the administration to allow Vermonters to bypass Vermont Health Connect and work directly with their insurance carriers,” Komline said. “Unfortunately, our request was dismissed. … Now that we know there remain significant problems, we again ask that we put our constituents’ needs first. Allow Vermonters to move the management of their plans over to the insurance companies and allow new enrollees to purchase their plans directly through these carriers.”
“Earlier in 2013, when it was clear that the exchange would not be able to process the coverage of small businesses, the governor stepped in and allowed those businesses to purchase insurance directly from the insurers,” Scheuermann said. “It is time to do that for all Vermonters. Frankly, if we had done so in July when Rep. Komline and I first proposed this, we just might have had a fully functional exchange for the Nov. 15 open enrollment period.”
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