After years of struggles, Vermont Health Connect was supposed to be back on track, but the problems for customers have not gone away.
There were big upgrades to the system last fall aimed to prevent the state from falling behind on making changes to customer policies, but the backlog is back, though not as big or burdensome as those of the past.
A backlog of 3,000 pending changes to Vermont Health Connect policies re-emerged this month.
That’s after October’s website upgrade brought the promise of timely, automated modifications for customers.
Rep. Chris Pearson, P-Burlington, is the vice chair of the House Health Care Committee and says continuing problems with the exchange are troubling.
“Sometimes I feel like I don’t have any hair left to pull out. Very frustrating and it’s a complete disservice to Vermonters who are counting on Vermont Health Connect to get coverage,” said Pearson.
“We will be back on top of this in a very short period of time,” said Lawrence Miller, Vt. Health Reform chief.
Miller says the backlog problem is small in comparison to previous ones which reached peaks of more than 10,000 cases, all of which required costly manual fixes.
Miller says a tech fix originally due in December should be deployed this weekend, allowing those with pending issues to make their changes online.
“We’ll begin processing normally and chew that backlog right down over a couple of weeks,” said Miller.
The exchange has been functioning better since administrators installed upgrades in the fall.
But the site’s Facebook page is still littered with recent complaints.
Spokespeople for Blue Cross Blue Shield say their company is largely unaffected by the issue, but customers can be.
“They may be seeking care and the insurance may not be exactly what they intended it to be,” said Cory Gustafson, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont.
Pearson says he and his legislative peers have tried to provide oversight for the exchange over the rough, multiyear rollout.
But he says the task has proven nearly impossible for a citizen Legislature still hoping the state’s massive investment pays off.
The coming upgrade was developed by Exeter, a contractor that’s no longer in business.
Miller says that contributed to the delay, but noted the company did find and pay for another subcontractor to make the patch work.
Date: January 21, 2016