The complaintshave flown fast and furious following the rollout of the public exchanges Oct. 1. We wanted to get some initial feedback from those in the trenches.>>

TYPICAL

“I never marked this day as having great significance, primarily due to the fact that it is too early to know anything. Although, the healthcare.gov site was asking to people to wait till they weren't so busy. Typical government service.”

Brian Robertson

Fringe Benefit Group

IT'S ABOUT TRUST

“We have been prepping for months for Oct. 1, we had our client care center fully staffed ready to answer questions and consult with groups and individuals regarding their options under HCR, and we have yet to be able to even get on the federally facilitated exchange. BCBS has completed only one live call all the way through. People are confused, very confused. They need trusted advisors now more than ever.”

Brandon Scarborough

Power Group Companies and Benefits

BANKRUPT

“While I'm not a supporter of PPACA—I'm confident it will bankrupt America—Maryland has done a good a relatively good job with the exchange. That said, our staff has experienced an almost impossible time running quotes on the system due to outages. According to the Baltimore Business Journal, about 2,000 accounts were set up on the exchange but they won't release how many of those were actual enrollments versus folks like my team trying to get rates.”

Aaron Davis

NextLogical Benefit Strategies

FILLED OUT IN TRIPLICATE

“The first week of the exchanges was just further proof that if government is the answer, its time to get a new question. Most of the feedback I received from front-line producers was almost exclusively about the inability to through to the website(s). One producer told us that it took one of their clients a week to get online to enroll. However, when they got to the section about rating, the site instructed them to call. Once this client reached a live person, she was told she would have to complete a paper application and the rates would be mailed. The rep for the exchange said they didn't expect the site to be working until mid-November. A frustrating start for sure.”

Kevin Trokey

Benefits Growth Network