Monthly Archives: February 2014

Obama will trumpet 'unprecedented' effort to boost schools' digital technology

By BRIAN HUGHES | 02/04/14 06:27 AM

President Obama Tuesday will tout a new partnership between the White House and major tech companies to bring high-speed Internet and other new technologies to public schools, announcing $750 million in pledges from...

By MEGHASHYAM MALI | 02/03/14 05:56 PM

A week after his 2014 State of the Union address, a new poll finds President Obama's approval rating ticking upward, but a majority of Americans predicting that his policies will not succeed. A new CNN/ORC International...

By SUSAN CRABTREE | 02/03/14 02:36 PM

President Obama in late March will travel to Saudi Arabia, a longtime American ally whose relationship with Washington has frayed in recent months over rising concerns about U.S. policy toward Iran and Syria. In...

By MEGHASHYAM MALI | 02/03/14 01:58 PM

Thousands of Americans have been unable to correct errors in their Obamacare enrollment, according to a new report, highlighting an additional flaw in the rollout of the law's insurance exchanges. The Washington Post...

By MEGHASHYAM MALI | 02/03/14 01:55 PM

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Report: Obamacare website can't fix application errors

Roughly 22,000 Americans have filed requestsfor the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) to fix errors in their health insurance coverage caused by HealthCare.gov glitches, but the computer program to process those 22,000 requests has yet to be built, the Washington Postreports.

The appeals were filed by people who say that HealthCare.gov -- the website that serves as the Obamacare portal for 36 states -- failed to correctly calculate the subsidies theyre eligible for, sent them into the wrong insurance program or completely denied them coverage, the Post reported after obtaining internal government data.

Those 22,000 appeals were submitted through the mail, since the computer and phone systems for filing appeals have yet to launch. The appeals were transferred to a computer system at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), but the program to process those appeals does not yet exist, unnamed sources told the Post.

While the program may not yet be built, CMS spokesman Aaron Albright told CBS News that the agency is already helping some of the consumers who filed those requests. As we work to fully implement the appeals system, CMS is working directly with consumers to address concerns they have raised through this process,"Albright said.

The pending appeals are largely related to HealthCare.gov glitches that are now fixed, he said, so CMS is recommending that people who had problems enrolling reset and resubmit applications on the site.

We are also working to ensure that consumers who wish to continue with their appeal are able to do so, Albright said.

He declined to say when the computer program to process those appeals is expected to be finished, or which contractor is working on the program. The administration recentlytapped the consulting firm Accentureto replace CGI as the lead contractor responsible for HealthCare.govs ongoing construction.

Now that most of the front-end problems with HealthCare.gov have been resolved, the Obama administration has stepped up its efforts to encourage more people to enroll in insurance via the site. As of late January,about 3 millionhad enrolled in insurance plans through HealthCare.gov or one of the 14 state-based Obamacare sites.

President Obama over the weekenddefendedhis choice to keep HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on the job, even after HealthCare.govs disastrous launch in October.

We hold everybody up and down the line accountable but when were midstream, Bill, we want to make sure that our main focus is how do we make this thing work so people are able to sign up, the president said in an interview with Fox News Bill OReilly.

Read more from the original source:
22,000 File Appeals With Obamacare Site, Report Says