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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Washington health exchange error cancels 6,000 accounts

Associated Press

SEATTLE – The head of Washington’s health care exchange said Tuesday night that 6,000 accounts of people who had enrolled for health insurance coverage next year have been mistakenly canceled.

The “erroneous cancellation” affected both the customers’ enrollment and payment for coverage starting Jan. 1, Washington Health Benefit Exchange CEO Richard Onizuka said in a statement.

“Early analysis indicates that our system integrator, Deloitte, ran an automated enrollment cancellation process in error,” Onizuka said.

Deloitte implemented the design and construction of the Washington health care exchange and provides technical support for managing its components. A Deloitte spokesman did not immediately respond to an Associated Press call and email seeking comment after business hours Tuesday.

“We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused to our customers and do not take this issue lightly,” Onizuka said. “Exchange customer support representatives, staff members, navigators and registered insurance brokers are already working with impacted customers to help them reconfirm their 2015 coverage.”

The 6,000 accounts represent “a portion” of the total number of customers enrolled for coverage beginning Jan. 1, he said. It wasn’t clear how sizeable a portion that was.

Exchange spokeswoman Bethany Frey said Tuesday night in an email that she didn’t yet have a total enrollment figure for 2015; “we just know the 6,000 isn’t all of them.” She said the 6,000 accounts likely include both new and renewing customers.

One affected customer, Jeffrey Greene, told KING-TV that he renewed his account through the state’s Healthplanfinder website last month, and when he called the state he was told there was a technical glitch and that his account had been canceled.

Greene said he’s not too worried yet.

“If mid- to late December comes and this ticket isn’t reinstated, then yeah, I’ll be very concerned,” he said.

On Monday, the board that oversees Washington Healthplanfinder approved a motion to conduct a full review of the code and architecture behind the health insurance marketplace, Onizuka said in his statement.

“We are committed to providing a better customer experience to Washington residents and are taking aggressive steps to ensure our IT vendors are delivering us a quality product and our customers are receiving an excellent online experience,” he said.