By Electa Draper for The Denver Post
Medicaid patients enrolling through the state health insurance exchange are taking too much of its resources, exchange board members said Monday, but state officials propose an even tighter partnership.
The federal policy of “no wrong door” was meant to be a single online portal for the uninsured that would seamlessly determine their eligibility for either Medicaid or private insurance with tax subsidies they purchased on the exchange.
But system and user errors have created problems for thousands of Colorado customers seeking financial assistance under the Affordable Care Act.
Although open enrollment for 2015 health plans ended Feb. 15, at least 700 people are still hung up in the system — down from a peak of 10,000 complaints, according to the exchange’s enrollment report released Monday.
The online Shared Eligibility System — the interface between the state marketplace and Medicaid — has caused most of the intractable problems, exchange officials say.
Board members are trying to determine how aligned or entangled the exchange should be with the much larger Medicaid system administered through Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.
