Hawaii health exchange head to testify to Congress

The head of Hawaii’s troubled health insurance exchange has been called to Congress to testify about the problems faced by the marketplace.

The Hawaii Health Connector’s interim director Tom Matsuda will head to Washington next week.

The Connector has enrolled far fewer people in insurance plans than officials hoped. As a result, it doesn’t have enough money to sustain itself.

Officials from the Hawaii Health Connector have said the nonprofit needs about $15 million per year to operate. It has enough money to last through the end of 2014 and part of next year.

Only about 5,700 people had enrolled in insurance plans through Hawaii’s exchange as of the end of last week. Workers at the Connector have been reaching out to enroll more people before a March 31 deadline.