Vermont Health Care Website Working

MONTPELIER —

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/15/vermont-health-website-ready-saturday/19082437/

 Vermont individuals and families seeking health coverage began enrolling in plans Saturday after fixes were made to the state's troubled health insurance exchange.

The three-month open-enrollment period began Saturday. Lawrence Miller, director of health care reform for the administration of Gov. Peter Shumlin, said Vermont Health Connect processed 50 new applications and 201 renewals by Saturday at 1 p.m. The exchange was working well with some isolated minor issues in the morning that were quickly resolved, he said.

"The system is operating as expected, we're promptly dealing with minor issues that pop up, and we look forward to continuing to help Vermonters access health coverage," he said earlier in the day, more than a year after state-administered health insurance marketplace was set up under the federal Affordable Care Act.

In September, the Vermont Health Connect website was taken down after federal officials warned the state about continuing security problems.

Miller said earlier in the week that security and functionality problems that have plagued the health insurance purchasing system in the past have been resolved.

Vermont Health Connect still isn't ready to handle small business accounts, and employers with 50 or fewer employees still need to deal directly with insurance carriers, Miller said.

Problems arose early on when the exchange was originally launched in enrolling people and small-businesses, keeping the information secure and other issues.

The state decided to reduce the role of its original prime contractor and hire a new one. Miller also replaced Vermont Health Access Commissioner Mark Larson in overseeing the program.