ACA: Health exchange opens with some delays in Maine

Maine’s new online health insurance marketplace launched Tuesday and groups assisting the state’s uninsured with the sign-up process urged patience as high interest led to delays for some consumers.

The marketplace, or exchange, a key component of President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, will require nearly everyone in the country to have health insurance by Jan . 1 or face fines. Consumers can enroll as late as Dec. 15 and still get coverage in time and open enrollment will continue through March 31.

“This is a marathon, it’s not a dash,” said Joseph Ditre, executive director of the Augusta-based Consumers for Affordable Health Care. “There’s a six-month open enrollment period, so if you don’t get signed up today, you have plenty of time.”

Ditre’s organization helped a few people sign up for coverage Tuesday morning, although some consumers were experiencing delays due to heavy traffic on the website, Ditre said. The website was telling people to “please wait” for several minutes or that the “system is down.”

“It’s slowing things down, but people should know that anyone can apply in a number of different ways,” he said. Residents can contact the marketplace’s call center or call a nearby community action agency or community health center to get a paper application.

The state estimates that as many as 250,000 residents could use the exchange, including about 130,000 uninsured, but anticipates that many will choose plans from individual insurers outside of the exchange or remain uninsured.

Republican Gov. Paul LePage has taken a hands-off approach to implementing the health care law in Maine, opting for a federally-run exchange like 35 other states. LePage argued that without knowing more details about the cost and nature of state-based exchanges, Maine could be forced to serve as the administrator of a new federal health care bureaucracy over which it has little control.

Jake Grindle, health services navigator for Western Maine Community Action, said that it will have a group of more than 80 people to explain the various plans on the marketplace. He said that the navigators were holding outreach events Tuesday and setting up appointments with consumers for later this week and month.

“There’s a lot of people how are hungry to get better health coverage, but I think if everybody is a little patient we’ll have a successful rollout for sure,” he said.