Cover Oregon Experiencing More Troubles than Healthcare.gov

A report form Kaiser Health News suggests that Cover Oregon’s website might be plagued with more difficulties than Healthcare.gov, as it has failed to enroll anyone in over a month and has workers sifting through paper applications to determine applicants’ eligibility for benefits.

Oregon launched a glossy website and folksy Oregonian-specific ads to attract individuals to the site ahead of Oct. 1, but web glitches have foiled their efforts even as state-run exchanges in places like Kentucky report successes.

Oregon’s troubles incite instant comparisons to Healthcare.gov, the federal website that is supposed to process requests for coverage from 36 states but has been plagued by hiccups and may not work for the majority of applicants until the end of the month, according to the Obama administration.

Oregon residents seeking health insurance are now downloading paper applications from the website and applying, or turning to In-Person Assisters and Navigators to walk them through the process, according to Kaiser Health News.

Cover Oregon spokesperson Amy Fauver explained how the process is working right now:

“We have on our website right now, a place where people who just want to wait, who just want do to it electronically, can give us their e-mail address, and we will e-mail them when the system is fully functional,” she said. “We also hear from a lot of people who are really chomping at the bit to get started. And they want to send in their paper application as soon as they can. Either way is fine with us. “

Cover Oregon estimates that the website will be fully functional by the end of November. So far, it has recieved over 7,000 paper applications, with more coming in each day. It has 45 days to process each one, but hopes for a faster turnaround.