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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Error cancels 6,000 accounts on Washington health exchange

Associated Press

SEATTLE – The head of Washington’s health care exchange said the accounts of 6,000 customers enrolled for insurance coverage starting Jan. 1 have been mistakenly canceled.

Washington Health Benefit Exchange CEO Richard Onizuka said in a statement Tuesday evening that the “erroneous cancellation” affects both the customers’ enrollment and payment for 2015 coverage.

He said it appears that “an automated enrollment cancellation process” was run in error.

Onizuka said the exchange will reconfirm health care coverage for affected customers.

The affected accounts represent “a portion” of the total number of customers enrolled for coverage beginning Jan. 1, Onizuka said. It was not clear how sizeable a portion that was.

Exchange spokeswoman Bethany Frey said Tuesday that she didn’t have a total enrollment figure for 2015, but that “the 6,000 isn’t all of them.”