Officials at the Washington Health Benefit Exchange (WHBE) have decided to extend this year’s open enrollment on a case-by-case basis. That announcement might cause taxpayers to ask, why is any extension necessary?
Because of another “glitch,” of course.
According to the Seattle Times, the day before the end of open enrollment, a glitch occurred that “affected WHBE’s ability to verify eligibility for tax credits and Medicaid, it took down the state insurance exchange with it.”
As anyone who has paid attention is aware, Washington’s exchange website is no stranger to “glitches.”
There has yet to be a single enrollment period that has run smoothly. State officials have—time and time again—made excuses for the exchange’s poor performance, including calling the financial trauma inflicted on unsuspecting enrollees mere “glitches.” One official went so far as to excuse the many failures by explaining the exchange was a “start-up” that faces all the problems most start-ups encounter.
Of course, most start-ups don’t receive tens of millions in federal grants during the course of two years to help them launch.
But, that’s the advantage for these bureaucrats of working with taxpayer money – it just keeps on coming.
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