FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Federal health officials, after encouraging alternate sign-up methods amid the fumbled rollout of the online insurance website, began quietly urging counselors across the country last week to stop using paper applications to enroll people because of concerns those applications would not be processed in time.
Interviews with enrollment counselors, insurance brokers and a government official who works with navigators in Illinois reveal the latest change in direction by the Obama administration, which had been encouraging paper applications and other means because of all the problems with the federal website.
Consumers must sign up for insurance under the federal health overhaul by Dec. 23 in order for coverage to start in January.
“We received guidance from the feds recommending that folks apply online as opposed to paper,” said Mike Claffey, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Insurance.
After a conference call last week with federal officials, Illinois health officials sent a memo Thursday to their roughly 1,600 navigators saying there is no way to complete marketplace enrollment through a paper application. The memo, which Claffey said was based on guidance from federal officials, said paper applications should be used only if other means aren’t available.
“They’ve said do not use paper applications because they won’t be able to process them anywhere near in time,” said John Foley, attorney and certified counselor for Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County.
That contradicts what federal health officials told reporters during a national media call last week, during which they said there were no problems with paper applications.
