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 The newspaper, citing sources familiar with the situation, said
appeals by about 22,000 people were sitting untouched in a
government computer.
"And an unknown number of consumers who are trying to get help
through less formal means — by calling the health-care marketplace
directly — are told that HealthCare.gov's computer system is not yet
allowing federal workers to go into enrollment records and change
them," according to the Post.
It added that the Obama administration had not made public the
problem with the appeals system.
Despite efforts by legal advocates to press the White House on the
situation, "there is no indication that infrastructure . . .
necessary for conducting informal reviews and fair hearings has even
been created, let alone become operational," attorneys for the
National Health Law Program were quoted as saying in a December
letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS,
which oversees HealthCare.gov.
The Post quoted two knowledgeable people as saying it was unclear
when the appeals process would become available.
The system is designed to allow people filing appeals to do so by
computer, phone or mail. But only mail is currently available, the
newspaper said.
Asked to comment, a CMS spokesman said: "As we work to fully
implement the appeals system, CMS is working directly with consumers
to address concerns they have raised through this process.
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"We have found that the appeals filed are largely related to
previous system errors, most of which have since been fixed. We are
inviting those consumers back to healthcare.gov where they can reset
and successfully finish their applications without needing to
complete the appeals process," Aaron Albright said in an email.
"We are also working to ensure that consumers who wish to continue
with their appeal are able to do so," he said.
The healthcare law, known as Obamacare, is designed to provide
health coverage to millions of uninsured people in the United
States, but was plagued by a botched rollout in October.
The Obama administration said in late January that enrollment soared
in recent weeks to about 3 million.
(Reporting by Peter Cooney; additional reporting by Roberta Rampton;
editing by Eric Walsh)
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