More than two weeks removed from the launch of the health exchange enrollment periods, the country's "First State" successfully signed up its first customer, The Associated Press recently reported.
Delaware resident Janice Baker, 59, of Selbyville, was confirmed to be the state's first enrollee in the health insurance marketplace that opened for individuals to sign up on Oct. 1.
Baker informed the AP that she's spent much of the past several weeks attempting to enroll for coverage through the exchange, but she was consistently met with a series of glitches and false starts that prevented her from completing her application after beginning it the day it opened. After spending several hours on the phone talking with customer assistance representatives, she noted that she was finally able to finish her application after she cleared her browsing and other temporary data that was stored on her computer.
Rita Landgraf, secretary for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, told the news source that they're well aware of the glitches that have been on the exchange's website. She stressed, however, that upgrades are being made to the system and the troubleshooting section of the site is being updated, giving visitors some recommendations for how to solve problems that present themselves.
Meanwhile, to the northwest of Delaware, Wisconsin's exchange has been able to enroll more than one person, but still under what most expected. Public policy think tank MacIver Institute reported that as of Oct. 15, fewer than 50 people had been signed up for coverage through the state's insurance marketplace, according to Dan Schwartzer, deputy commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.
While the government shutdown has had an impact on various employment sectors, including some that offer employee benefits to their workers, it's not the reason for the exchange glitches, Schwartzer stressed.
