Covered California lists 10 Santa Cruz County agents as certified while others wait [Santa Cruz Sentinel, Calif.]

Oct. 12--SANTA CRUZ -- If you search on www.covereredca.com for a certified insurance agent with a Santa Cruz 95062 ZIP code to advise you on new options as of Oct. 1, you will not find any names.

However, if you look beyond that ZIP code, you will find 10 agents in the county listed as certified.

Agents are not allowed to sell any Covered California policies without a certification number.

Among those waiting is Betty Lindstrom of Felton, owner of Lindstrom Insurance since 1995.

"We've passed the test and submitted all of the paperwork, paid their fee, but we're not showing on their website yet, nor have we received an email to confirm we're certified," she said.

Pamela Fugitt-Hetrick, owner of DCD Financial and Insurance Services in Santa Cruz and host of the Money Moves show Thursday night on KSCO radio, is also waiting. She said the CoveredCA website crashed when she tried to log in.

Neil Crosby, vice president of public affairs for the California Association of Health Underwriters, said about 400 agents out of 2,200 who had completed the training and the test were certified as of midweek.

"A lot of agents are not answering questions correctly or not filling out the agent agreement correctly," he said. "They are checking multiple boxes instead of checking just one."

Software glitches have frustrated agents entering information at the CoveredCA website.

"It's all new," Crosby said. "It's a state of California system that hasn't been tested."

He expects individuals who qualify for a big subsidy to sign up as soon as possible and those who don't quality to wait until December.

When people sign up they must pay the first month's premium. For some families, that could be $50. For others, it could be $1,100.

Crosby suggested those facing higher rates look at policies in the private market, the ones not offered by CoveredCA, to see if they cost less since agents get the same commission, no matter which policy is chosen.

He also advised checking which doctors are covered by which plans before you buy, saying, "Your doctor may not be in the network."

Blue Shield of California spokeswoman Lindy Wagner said, "Contact Covered California directly for a status on the provider search capability on their site."

A CoveredCA representative said the website has a list of doctors in the plans, but Jenny Hubbard, who works with Gene Burkett at InsuranceLink in Felton, said Friday, "That part of the site is not working."

She called the insurer to ask.

"There are a few more plans outside the exchange than in the exchange," Hubbard added, noting that if a plan chosen by a client does not include a doctor he or she wants to see, the client will have to decide whether to pick a different doctor or a different plan.

Hubbard said she did not realize the CoveredCA website lists Burkett as certified.

"We're waiting for that email, that letter, that phone call that says you're in," she said.

Kathleen Brewer de Pozos of Santa Cruz, who has a doctorate in medical anthropology and worked as a translator for Kaiser before switching to health insurance, said she did not know she was certified, either.

She predicts the expanded coverage will cut down use of the emergency room for medical treatment.

"I am impressed with the pricing and affordability for people totally priced out of market," she said, citing three couples in their 50s and early 60s who had no insurance and now can get it.

Follow Sentinel reporter Jondi Gumz at Twitter.com/jondigumz

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