CMS Statement About 2019 Health Insurance Exchange Open Enrollment

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued the following statement:

"Our primary goal is to provide a seamless open enrollment experience for HealthCare.gov consumers and ensure that those who want coverage offered through the Exchange can enroll in a plan. As in past years, we have seen an uptick in the volume of consumers using HealthCare.gov and contacting our call center as we get closer to the December 15 deadline to select a plan for the upcoming year. Yesterday we experienced the highest traffic of this Open Enrollment.

"With the exception of a brief waiting room on December 10, the website has performed well, consumers have been able to easily access enrollment tools to compare plans and prices, and the call center consumer satisfaction rate has remained at 90 percent. We continue to encourage consumers to make plan selections by that deadline so that their coverage can begin on January 1. Consistent with previous years, as we get close to the deadline, some consumers who are calling the Marketplace Call Center may be asked to leave their contact information and will be allowed to enroll in a plan after the December 15 deadline.

"This will allow these consumers to come back and complete their enrollment for January 1 coverage." - Attributable to a CMS spokesperson

"On background:

"* Some consumers who call the call center to enroll, will instead be prompted to leave their contact information in the final days heading into the December 15 deadline.

"* Consistent with previous years, people asked to leave their contact information with the call center will be contacted after Dec 15 to complete their applications and plan selections.

"* All consumers who leave their contact information will be able to enroll in a plan with January 1 coverage.

"* Consumers who are not prompted to leave contact information will be able to speak with an agent and enroll. Not all consumers will be asked to leave their contact information."