We have previously criticized Gov. Phil Bryant for blocking Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney’s effort to set up a state-run exchange to allow the uninsured in Mississippi to sign up for health coverage under Obamacare.
We aren’t backing away from that criticism. We do note, though, that while some of the state-operated exchanges, such as Kentucky’s, have received positive reviews, others are as fouled up, if not more so, than the federal exchange was when it launched.
The Associated Press has detailed the frustrations consumers are having trying to get through to call centers in states operating their own exchanges. In California, the average wait time last month was 47 minutes. In Washington, one woman reported being put on hold for more than an hour on two separate calls. In Nevada, another woman waited more than 3½ hours on one call — and even that was a small slice of the 100-plus hours she says she spent on the phone getting her application processed.
With those kinds of ridiculous wait times, you have to wonder how many people said, “Forget it.”
Most of these problem states apparently woefully understaffed their call centers. Several are hiring more employees to try to bring the hold times down.
Would Mississippi have done better on answering the phone? We would hope so, but, thanks to Bryant, we will never know.
