As Twitchy reported, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services held a conference call Monday to provide an update on the progress of the HealthCare.gov website. Reporters who called in were kept waiting for 40 minutes, and a handful were kept waiting indefinitely for an answer regarding one particular site error.
I've asked CMS four times now for the 834 transmission error rate. Four times, no answer.
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) December 2, 2013
The Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein explains:
The files, known as “834” forms, contain all of the relevant personal information for individuals who have signed up for health insurance, along with details on their plan choices. But these forms have been riddled with errors such as duplicated enrollments and spouses getting mixed up with children.
If these forms are not fixed, then insurers cannot smoothly process payments or ensure that individuals are enrolled in the right plans. This could be a nightmare come Jan. 1, when individuals start attempting to use their insurance. Some may show up at doctors’ offices thinking they are covered, but find out that they never were actually enrolled.
@CMSgov still hiding the ball; won't say what the error rate is for consumer information being sent to insurance companies
— Noam Levey (@NoamLevey) December 2, 2013
Lots of skepticism among health care reporters in today's CMS call/frustration with selective disclosure & stonewalling.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) December 2, 2013
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the lack of answers from CMS on the 834 problem is pretty telling.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) December 2, 2013
Three reporters from major papers – WashPost, LAT, WSJ – asked for the 834 error rate. None of us got answers. Frustrating.
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) December 2, 2013
.@sarahkliff Answer you got is CMS is not disclosing error rates. That speaks volumes about both efficacy & transparancy. @jimgeraghty
— S D Winkler (@sdwinkler) December 2, 2013
CMS might be keeping the error rate from reporters, but has the president been told?
Has anyone told the president about the 834 issue? Will anyone? Is he walking around assuming the site is fine _again_?
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) December 2, 2013
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