As Covered California began to allow consumers to renew their health insurance for 2016 the online enrollment system has ceased to operate. They issued an Agent Alert on Thursday at 2:45pm.
Covered California System Outage 10/15/15
We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our online enrollment system. The system has been disabled until further notice.
During this outage, we will be unable to accept consumer applications online. Thank you for your patience and continued support as we work to resolve this issue. We will send an email update once the system is back online.
Agents attempting to login to perform any functions for their clients such as reporting a change of address were greeted with a message that the system was down.
We’ll Be Back Soon
Covered California’s online application is temporarily unavailable. During this time, you can still browse the CoveredCA.com site for helpful fact sheets and use the Shop and Compare Tool to look at plans in your area. You can find out if you qualify for financial assistance or Medi-Cal coverage. You can also find enrollment help near you, and a list of outreach and education activities.
We’re sorry for the inconvenience, and we appreciate your patience. Please come back and visit us.
High renewal call volume
The Covered California system crash was preceded by an Agent Alert that they were experiencing high call volumes on Wednesday causing delays in answering telephone calls.
High Call Volumes Due to Renewal
Covered California’s Agent Service Center is currently experiencing high call volumes and longer than usual wait times due to questions regarding renewals. Agents have multiple resources available to help you with renewals. Many of the answers to your renewal-related questions can be found in the Renewal Consumer Journey Webinar Recording or slide presentation.
There have been some changes to the renewal process since last year. For example, agents should now report any changes using the Report a Change 2015 link before renewing a Covered California member for coverage. Here are a few additional reminders:
- To make updates to a consumer’s 2015 application, use the Report a Change 2015 link under the Actions tab on the homepage before clicking Continue under the Renewal message. Changes made to the 2015 application using the above link will automatically update when reviewing consumer information to complete a renewal for 2016. Changes made to the renewal summary page only apply beginning 1/1/16.
- Make sure to double-check that consumers have provided their Consent for Verification which allows Covered California to electronically verify their eligibility for tax credits. If a consumer does not provide their consent or if that consent has expired, they will be renewed into coverage without tax credits.
- Click here to access the 2016 Renewal Tool Kit
We apologize for the inconvenience that longer than usual hold times may cause and appreciate your patience.
This is always a difficult time for websites of this nature because they have to juggle
- New applications for health insurance for the remainder of 2015
- Changes to existing accounts before 2016
- Renewals of health insurance for 2016
- Renewing health insurance for consumers whose current plan is closing and must chose a new plan
With luck, this will be a small bump in the enrollment road.
Update: Covered California enrollment website returned to functioning mode on the evening of October 15th, but there were still reports of error messages on some pages.