healthmedicinet

The Associated Press reports that a number of state health exchanges that were supposed to link to the federal computer system were initially rated as “high risk.” Meanwhile, coverage of state-level online insurance marketplace fits and starts continues with reports from Maryland, Hawaii, Idaho, North Dakota, California, Connecticut and Minnesota.   

The Associated Press/Washington Post: AP Exclusive: Health Law Cybersecurity Challenges
As the Obama administration raced to meet its self-imposed deadline for online health insurance markets, security experts working for the government worried that state computer systems could become a back door for hackers. Documents provided to The Associated Press show that more than two-thirds of state systems that were supposed to tap into federal computers to verify sensitive personal information for coverage were initially rated as “high risk” for security problems (2/25).

The Washington Post: Maryland Sticks By Its Overall Goal For Health Insurance Enrollments
Maryland health officials received some convenient news last week: The enrollment goal they had set for the state’s health exchange was based on incorrect research, and a more realistic projection was one they had already met. But the state is sticking with its original too-high goal, a member of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s Cabinet told lawmakers on Monday. “If you know the governor, he’s not someone who is inclined to lower goals once he sets them,” said Joshua Sharfstein, Maryland’s secretary of health and mental hygiene. “We’re going to keep doing our best” (Johnson, 2/25).

The Washington Post: Maryland’s Four Major Options For Fixing Its Dysfunctional Health Exchange
Maryland’s new online health insurance marketplace is so structurally flawed and dysfunctional that state officials say they will have to make major changes as soon as the first open enrollment period ends on March 31. They are still trying to figure out what those changes will be (Johnson, 2/25).

Los Angeles Times: Hawaii Health Marketplace Off To An Especially Rough Start
Hawaii already had one of the highest insured rates in the nation as the result of a 40-year-old state law requiring employers to provide coverage. The state received more than $205 million in federal money to build a health insurance exchange to serve those still uninsured. Yet four months after enrollments began, the Hawaii Health Connector has allocated $120 million while signing up only about 4,300 people for health plans -; fewer than any other state. Despite officials’ initial hopes of enrolling tens of thousands of Hawaiians, only 400 employers have applied for plans for their employees (Reston, 2/25).

The Associated Press: Boise Health Care Act Call Center Lays Off 1,600
A Boise call center that helps people sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is laying off 1,600 people -; nearly its entire workforce -; as the federal exchange open-enrollment period ends. Maximus Inc. hired about 1,800 people for the Boise facility last year (Boone, 2/26).

The Associated Press: ND Seeks To Link To Federal HealthCare Computers
North Dakota has yet to gain approval on its security preparations needed to link the state’s system to federal computers that enroll people for coverage under the new health care law, documents show (MacPherson, 2/25).

The Associated Press: Covered CA Website Had ‘Vulnerability’
More than three months after it opened for business, California’s online health insurance marketplace had what federal officials described as a potential security flaw in its computer system and one that had already been disclosed publicly. The concern is noted in a Jan. 10 email between officials with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that oversaw development of the online exchanges (2/25).