Reports hint at pent-up exchange plan demand

Some insurers, enrollment organizations and exchange managers say enrollment system glitches are holding back strong demand for coverage.

But as soon as those glitches get fixed — which is slowing happening — enrollment should surge, they predict.

Mike Reitz, president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, said that the carrier has received few complete applications, but he said he had heard that independent agents and Louisiana Blue agents were “holding hundreds of submissions in queues, awaiting the opportunity to submit them electronically” once the Web-based enrollment system is working better.

Similarly, in Alaska, an exchange enrollment organization, Enroll Alaska, said it has a “large backlog” of exchange plan applicants to help.