Phone calls and web visits to California’s health insurance exchange are rising at a furious pace as the Dec. 23 deadline for sign-ups looms.
“We are experiencing a high volume of phone calls at this time,” the Covered California web site now warns on its home page. “We truly appreciate your patience.”
Calls to the state insurance marketplace topped out at almost 144,000 for the week ending Dec. 7, by far the most calls since the opening of business Oct. 1. The average wait time for getting a Covered California rep on the phone also spiked on the volume, hitting more than 36 minutes.
“Unique visits” to the Covered California web site hit 640,404, the most since the highly publicized opening of the state Obamacare operation.
Those seeking individual (private) health insurance must apply by Dec. 23 in order for coverage to begin Jan. 1. Next week is the last full week to get help in applying for insurance. Open enrollments for the year continue through the end of March, however.
The 143,923 phone calls for the week of Dec. 1-7 were the most logged by Covered California to date. First-week calls were put at almost 60,000, while the number for the week of Nov. 17-23 was almost 95,000.
The average wait time for phone callers is by far the worst since the state Obamacare operation opened. In week 1, the wait time was about 15 minutes. The wait time is double that reported for the week of Nov. 17-23. The “average handling time” has remained stable, however, at about 19 minutes 30 seconds.
The Covered California web site visits of 640,404 compared with 374,219 for the previous week (Nov. 24-30). It was the highest traffic reported since the first two weeks of operation, which began Oct. 1 — although those high early numbers were questioned at the time.
The Associated Press is reporting that the number of paper applications filed since Oct. 1 has created a logjam, with as many as 25,000 apps still to be entered into Covered California’s computer system.
A spokesman for Covered California was quoted as saying: “We believe that everyone who properly filled out the application, they will have health insurance on Jan. 1.”
The health insurance exchange had urged people who couldn’t get the CoveredCalifornia.com web site to work to fill out paper applications.
Total enrollment figures for November are scheduled for release Dec. 12, Covered California said.
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