Insiders Detail Culture of Secrecy at California’s Obamacare Exchange http://t.co/vvAsid2mK8 via @SharylAttkisson @DailySignal
— Kris Held,MD (@kksheld) April 22, 2015“They knew back in August of 2013 that there were serious readiness issues with Covered California. … When I and others persisted in challenging these contractor performance issues, our own contracts were prematurely terminated and we were threatened with legal action if we spoke out.”
...Kevin Knauss is a certified Covered California insurance agent and Affordable Care Act supporter. In spring of 2013, he says he was “jazzed” about the promise of Obamacare and began blogging “happy stuff.”
Since then, he has seen many success stories... But Knauss has also seen a flip side. He’s been shocked by the amount of time he’s spent helping weary Covered California consumers....
Knauss’ once-cheerful blog has turned into a consumer chronicle of Covered California’s tribulations. He says the agency is masking its shortfalls because it is, in essence, a sales organization.
“I know their enrollment numbers aren’t right. They’re marketing themselves [to] generate fees.”
To some degree, state health insurance exchanges are forced to market themselves. After starting up using over a billion federal tax dollars, the law requires them to be self-supporting this year. To do so, Covered California collects commissions.
>>> This is the second of two parts in The Daily Signal’s series, “Uncovering Covered California.” Yesterday, in part one, several senior-level officials integral to the launch of Covered California spoke about what they view as gross incompetence and mismanagement.
◼ Incompetence, Mismanagement Plague California’s Obamacare Insurance Exchange - Sharyl Attkisson/Daily Signal
