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SALT LAKE CITY — Insurance companies are dealing with a different kind of problem as people sign up for health care using the federal healthcare.gov.
Even though some people signed up for coverage through the website correctly, there have been some communication breakdowns between the federal government and insurance companies.
"Even though the enrollment happened months or weeks ago, we haven't got an enrollment form," said Arches Health Plan CEO Linn Baker.
He said these people are known in the industry as "orphans," where the government has their information but the insurer has no record of them. Being one of these "orphans" can cause problems down the road if the issue isn't fixed.
"Our concern is that people went on the exchange directly and enrolled themselves and we have no way of knowing," Baker said. "Unfortunately, in some cases insurers may not know until the person tries to get medical services."
"Ghosts" are the opposite of "orphans," whereas the insurance company has a record of the customer but the federal government doesn't.
Our concern is that people went on the exchange directly and enrolled themselves and we have no way of knowing.
–Linn Baker
Baker said the percentage of customers who have had these problems is very small. However, his company has had to help customers who had a lot of questions about their health care after signing up through the federal website.
He also says people can fix this problem by calling their insurer.
"If they have not received a premium billing from their insurance company, I think that's a big red flag where they better call the company and follow up," he said.
People who pay their premiums before Jan. 10 will have coverage effective immediately. But Baker said these customers still should verify with their insurance companies to make sure they have what they pay for.
"They will have a Jan. 1 effective date, but because they were such late enrollees, many times the insurance company or the drug card company hasn't had time to get them their enrollment card," Baker said.
