With just four days to get the MNsure website up to snuff and help confused consumers find their way to a health plan, the new leader of the state's health insurance exchange said Friday he's encouraged by "steady progress," but that the work is far from over.
"The vast majority of people who come into our system are able to pass through much more smoothly," MNsure CEO Scott Leitz said. "That's not to say everything is solved here."
Consumers have until Tuesday at midnight to sign up for coverage that begins Jan. 1. Open enrollment continues through March 31 before consumers without insurance face a penalty under the federal health law.
Leitz and an IBM representative updated Gov. Mark Dayton on Friday on the effort to resolve problems, and said the vendors are "aggressively addressing issues."
Wait times at the MNsure call center were 57 minutes as of 1:30 p.m. on Friday, "still longer than they should be," Leitz said, but trending downward.
State workers and an infusion of as many as 100 workers from IBM are "attacking the software side to the strongest extent that we can."
'I think I have insurance'
Consumers in situations such as Steve Briggs finds himself are among the biggest concerns. Briggs, 58, retired 16 months ago and was so optimistic about finding a better plan through the MNsure marketplace that he canceled his COBRA plan a few months early. At the time, he didn't think it was such a gamble.
"I'm a retired actuary," said Briggs, of Eagan, who qualifies for tax credits. "I don't want to take that kind of risk."