HMSA’s online traffic surges with health-plan shoppers

Hawaii Medical Service Association, the state’s dominant health insurer, said thousands of consumers flocked to its website for pricing information on new plans that take effect Jan. 1 under the Affordable Care Act.

Software problems prevented consumers from viewing plans and prices on the state’s health insurance exchange known as the Hawaii Health Connector at the start of open enrollment Tuesday.

But consumers have been able to view individual policy rates on hmsa.com and Kaiser Permanente Hawaii’s buykp.org. Small-group rates are not available online, but employers can get quotes from the insurers in person or over the phone.

HMSA and Kaiser are the only two carriers participating on the new online marketplace, a key provision of President Barack Obama’s health reform law, designed to match qualified individuals with subsidized coverage.

HMSA saw roughly 50,000 visitors to its site from Tuesday through noon Thursday, up from about 28,000 in the same period last week. It also received more than 1,200 calls related to the federal law.

"We want every single person to know without a doubt that we’ve done everything we can to help them, whether it’s online, over the phone or in person," said Elisa Yadao, spokeswoman for HMSA, which opened three retail centers Tuesday. "If you visit an HMSA center, we’ll sit down with you and explain your health plan options. If we think you qualify for a subsidy, we’ll also explain the advantages of using the Hawaii Health Connector. Ultimately, our goal is to make sure you pick the health plan that best fits your needs."

In addition, there were about 250 visitors to the HMSA center in Hono­lulu, which previously has seen around 40 consumers per day. Kaiser was unable to break out Hawaii numbers from its national website handling ACA enrollment.

Consumers can enroll directly with the insurers but won’t be able to apply for tax credits to reduce insurance costs unless they purchase plans through the Connector, which has been unable to load the rates properly on the website and won’t release the information until the problem is fixed.

Connector Executive Director Coral Andrews said employees are working round the clock to get the system fully functional.

The Connector, which received $205 million in federal grants, including $53 million to build and operate the exchange over four years, didn’t indicate when the system would be operational.