The federal and state exchanges have not yet standardized the way they report exchange application data, making it difficult to accurately compare the healthcare marketplaces. Still, speculation is hard to resist, and the numbers trickling in reveal an interesting story.
Nearly all of the 14 state-based exchanges are leading HealthCare.gov in terms of applications started versus uninsured residents, but two have actually managed to sign up more individuals in their respective states than HealthCare.gov has managed for the 36 states it serves.
California and New York reported 180,000 and 174,000 started applications, respectively, compared to the roughly 168,000 estimated to have been completed through HealthCare.gov.
California reported its numbers Oct. 26 and New York reported early on Oct. 8. The 168,000 estimate stems from the 531,000 applications reported by the 14 state-based exchanges, subtracted from the “almost 700,000” applications HHS says have been completed through HealthCare.gov.
Of course, California and New York boast the largest populations in the country and healthcare shoppers have far fewer competitors to vie with for bandwidth space. However, the numbers are still curious and may reveal something about site design and repair tactics.
“We have a help line that we can call to override issues,” Steve Wood, ARC Health Community Health Coordinator told Hudson Valley’s YNN. “So no, we haven’t had those kinds of issues that the federal site has.”
And while high traffic rates caused some delays on Covered California in the early weeks of October, officials say problematic features of the website have been temporarily removed so that system glitches can be repaired.
Conversely, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has rejected repeated calls to shut down HealthCare.gov while tech teams make necessary repairs and updates.
Not all state exchanges are showing up HealthCare.gov, however. In Oregon, only an estimated 1,000 people had begun applications by Oct. 7, representing just 0.17% of the state’s uninsured population. The glitches are so problematic, the state is actually recommending producers and shoppers stop waiting for the website and apply through paper forms in order to meet the Dec. 15 deadline.
Despite these figures, analysts stress that with so many different variables at play, it’s difficult to make hard-and-fast assumptions about the relative performances of the state and federal exchanges.
“If we were in the middle of a football game, we would not even be done with the first quarter,” Rachel Dolan, policy specialist with the National Academy for State Health Policy, told Politico. “I think trying to score states against each other is preliminary at this point.”
