Vermont: Progress made on technical problems

Of the 14 "full" state-run exchanges remaining (i.e. running their own website platform), one of them (Hawaii) recently threw in the towel due to technological and funding issues. The other 13, funding issues aside, seem to mostly be operating pretty well, but a few are still having technical issues...one of which is tiny Vermont.

Fortunately, they've managed to resolve at least some of their lingering tech problems:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vermont Health Connect June 18, 2015

Vermont Health Connect Reports on Progress toward Key Milestones
Number of Customers Awaiting Changes Reduced by 1,600

 ESSEX, VT –State officials delivered a regular monthly report on Vermont Health Connect to legislative oversight committees today. The report covered key performance indicators and enrollment data for the month leading up to recent system upgrades which greatly enhanced the speed at which Vermont Health Connect can process customer requests.

Those system upgrades have led to progress on reducing the backlog of change requests, reducing from 10,200 to 8,600 the number of households that need changes to be made to their Qualified Health Plan or Medicaid accounts. This is the first significant reduction in the backlog since the beginning of 2015 Open Enrollment last fall.

“We’re not going to take our foot off the gas until the backlog is gone and every Vermonter is getting the prompt service they deserve,” said Lawrence Miller, Chief of Health Care Reform. “At the same time, it’s good to see the hard work of our team starting to pay off. Staff are still ramping up on how they’re interacting with the new system, so the fact that the backlog is already headed down is a really good sign.

The following information is intended to help Vermonters understand what to expect in the weeks ahead.

Customers with new changes to report

Vermonters who have seen a change in their status should call the Customer Support Center or fill out a Change Report Form on the VermontHealthConnect.gov website.

The new functionality is decreasing the amount of time it takes customer service staff to process changes. By October 1st, Vermont Health Connect will be expected to process changes that customers report by the 15th day of a month in time to be reflected on the next invoice, and changes reported in the second half of the month on one of the next two invoices.

Customers who have already reported changes

Customers with pending changes do not need to call, as their requested changes have been moved to the new system and will be processed in the coming weeks. Customers can expect to see changes previously requested within two or three bills.