SEATTLE — More than 200,000 people signed up for health insurance in Washington state during the open enrollment period that ended Sunday, officials said.
But those numbers may not include people who tried to sign up and were turned away because of a computer shutdown during the final weekend of open enrollment.
State officials say people who couldn’t sign up because of computer problems on Saturday, should contact Washington Healthplanfinder because they may be given extra time to finish their applications.
Exchange spokesman Michael Marchand said people in this situation should call the customer support line (855-923-4633) as soon as possible.
“We were seeing close to 300 enrollees an hour the final hours of open enrollment,” Marchand said.
He expects some people who tried to sign up over the weekend were hampered by the shutdown of the Department of Social and Health Services eligibility system.
The health exchange was down for most of Saturday because of that problem.
The final enrollment figures will be tallied after insurance companies have time to bill the last people to sign up for insurance and after the final weekend problems are resolved, Marchand said.
Nearly 10,000 people signed for health insurance through the Washington exchange between Wednesday and Sunday.
Sign-ups beat the goal for open enrollment by 35,000. About 155,000 people signed up for insurance during the 2014-15 open enrollment, about 45,000 fewer than during the 2015-16 open enrollment.
Marchand credited much of the increase to the higher government penalty people will have to pay if they don’t have health insurance this year.
Adults who don’t sign up for insurance this year will face penalties of at least $695. Families could be asked to pay more than $2,000 in fines if they don’t buy insurance through the exchange, on the individual market or are covered through a workplace plan.
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