Add Connecticut to the list of disastrous state #Obamacare exchanges.

And yes, I am scoring this as disastrous:

More than 2,400 Connecticut customers who bought health plans on Access Health CT were given incorrect information about their insurance plans, in one case underestimating the maximum out-of-pocket by at least $4,000.

The website for Access Health CT, the state’s new health exchange, had incorrect information online about deductibles and co-insurance impacting all 19 individual health plans from the three insurance companies that offer those plans through the exchange: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Connecticut, ConnectiCare, and HealthyCT.

[snip]

John Javaruski, a 62-year-old retired actuary from Farmington, said he received a letter dated Nov. 1 after he signed up for an Anthem plan with a $2,000 out-of-pocket maximum and zero deductible. According to the revised schedule of benefits attached to the letter, Javaruski’s plan jumped to $6,250 out of pocket and a $3,000 deductible.

Three times the cost, +$3,000 deductible?  Yeah, that’s a bit more than a glitch – and, of course, it’s a problem that’s messing up the customer’s life.  This took place in the months of September/October (and supposedly fixed at the end of October), which I think means that almost everybody who signed up before October 15th or so got hit by this.  But again, they say they fixed the problem.

I’m harping on that because, as PJ Media points out here, Access Health CT kept its mouth firmly shut when Barack Obama erroneously praised the program to the skies; the exchange knew full well that they were dealing with a disaster, but apparently taking personal responsibility for incompetence is strictly a Republican thing.  Or something.  I don’t know: my mind is still reeling from the thought of opening up a letter and finding out that they just tripled my insurance costs.

Moe Lane

PS: The state is now forecasting total signups (including Medicaid) at 60-65K for 2013.  Even if you assume that this previous estimates of 100-130K were for a full year, not three months, note that the pre-launch estimates assumed about a 80/20 split between private insurance and Medicaid expansion.  Right now the numbers are more like 60/40, and they aren’t getting much better.  I don’t need to explain to people at this point why every person who goes onto Medicaid is a person stabbing at the long-time viability of the exchanges, right?

PPS: And no, they’re not particularly yoking the young to the exchange, either.