Covered California And Department of Health Care Services Outline Impacts of Last Week’s Software Problem

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California™ is currently restoring data from applications completed during a software malfunction occurring Feb. 17 through Feb. 19. Covered California is also calling on consumers who started or updated incomplete applications during this period to resubmit their information.

Covered California will reach out to consumers as needed if they enrolled in a Covered California health insurance plan, partially completed an application or submitted updates during this timeframe to advise them of the status of their application and offer them assistance. No personal data were compromised during the software problem or the outage.

The software error resulted in Covered California taking its online enrollment portal offline for several days. Online enrollment is now fully operational. However, some data submitted by consumers during the affected time frame need to be recovered and checked for accuracy.

Consumers and their Certified Enrollment Counselors or Certified Insurance Agents who submitted information between Feb. 17 and Feb. 19 have options available to them, depending on whether they completed the online enrollment process, started an application or made updates to existing applications. Specific steps for consumers are outlined in the related fact sheet “Understanding Implications of Covered California DataRecovery,” which will provide information for consumers, county eligibility workers, Certified Insurance Agents and Certified Enrollment Counselors.

During the process of data recovery, information submitted between Feb. 17 and Feb. 19 may not be viewable. This includes completed applications, plan selections, partially completed applications and updates to existing applications.

About 6,500 consumers who completed their applications and selected plans are affected, but no action by these consumers is needed. Their applications and plan selections are being processed by the health insurance plans selected, and the information will be fully restored by Covered California. These consumers must make their payment by their health insurance plan’s deadline for April 1 coverage.

Another 14,500 consumers who partially completed their applications or submitted updates to existing applications within the time frame are affected. These consumers should either start a new application or resubmit any updates they made to an existing application. These consumers will be contacted by Covered California staff to restore their information and to complete their enrollment by March 15 for April 1 coverage.

An additional 16,000 consumers completed their applications and were determined to be likely eligible for Medi-Cal. Their applications are being processed by the county in which they are eligible, and that information is being fully restored by Covered California. Consumers’ applications may not be visible on CoveredCA.com until the restoration is complete. There is no action needed from these consumers, but if they have questions they should call their county human services agency.

The affected consumers visited Covered California’s online enrollment website between 1 a.m. Monday, Feb. 17, and 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19. Consumers — including those qualifying for Medi-Cal coverage — who have completed an application or updated information prior to or after that isolated time frame are not affected. Paper applications were not affected by the online enrollment malfunctions.

The enrollment portal was offline from 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, to about 4 a.m. Monday, Feb. 24, for repairs. Covered California technical engineers found the cause of the system issues to be a software malfunction during a planned maintenance outage the prior weekend.

Covered California is the state’s marketplace for the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Covered California, in partnership with the California Department of Health Care Services, was charged with creating a new health insurance marketplace in which individuals and small businesses can get access to affordable health insurance plans. With coverage starting in 2014, Covered California helps individuals determine whether they are eligible for premium assistance that is available on a sliding-scale basis to reduce insurance costs or whether they are eligible for low-cost or no-cost Medi-Cal. Consumers can then compare health insurance plans and choose the plan that works best for their health needs and budget. Small businesses can purchase competitively priced health insurance plans and offer their employees the ability to choose from an array of plans and may qualify for federal tax credits.

Covered California is an independent part of the state government whose job is to make the new market work for California’s consumers. It is overseen by a five-member board appointed by the Governor and the Legislature. For more information on Covered California, please visit www.CoveredCA.com.

The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) works to preserve and improve the physical and mental health of all Californians. DHCS provides health care services for approximately 9.4 million Californians through Medi-Cal, including medical, dental, mental health, substance use treatment services and long-term services and supports. This is accomplished through an investment of approximately $70 billion annually in public funds for the care of low-income families, children, pregnant women, seniors and persons with disabilities. DHCS focuses on delivering quality, effective services primarily through coordinated systems of care provided by 21 Medi-Cal managed care plans located in all of California’s 58 counties. For more information about DHCS, please visit www.dhcs.ca.gov.