Nevada insurance exchange website gets 1.1 million hits

Nevada’s health insurance exchange website has had more than 125,000 visitors since it went live Oct. 1.

Exchange Director Jon Hager said the site has recorded 1.1 million hits and that some 35,000 of those people have created accounts — the first step in qualifying for subsidies and purchasing a health insurance plan.

Some 1,500 people have selected health insurance plans, Hager said. But the big push is yet to come, he said.

“I expect big increases in November and December,” Hager said.

The deadline for people to choose a plan and buy it is Dec. 15 to meet the Affordable Care Act requirement to have insurance by Jan. 1.

The goal is to get 118,000 Nevadans who don’t have health insurance signed up by March 1, Hager said.

“I believe we’re well on track,” he said. “We’re on the up-slope now.”

Hager said many of the initial problems that blocked people from getting into the site have been fixed and that users are now “actually getting through the process.” He said his staff and the IT contractor are continuing to work on problems as they are identified.

As November approaches, the exchange is getting more and more insurance brokers involved, Hager said.

“We expect to start seeing applications getting through the process,” he said.

Dec. 15 is the first of three key deadlines, Hager said. The second is Feb. 15. People not enrolled by then won’t be insured by March 1 and may be subject to tax penalties for not purchasing health insurance.

After that, open enrollment for 2014 closes March 31. Those without insurance by that date can’t enroll until October and will be subject to penalties.