A revealing email obtained by NECN gives a candid assessment of the Massachusetts Health Connector website by the woman who runs it.
The email, which is 8 months old, was written by executive director Jean Yang upon learning her Maryland counterpart, Rebecca Pearce, was resigning after her competency was questioned by the state's lieutenant governor.
Like Massachusetts, Maryland experienced widespread problems with its health connector transition. Pearce sent an email blast to her counterparts around the country informing them of her resignation.
Yang responded, saying, "What's going on? Now is not the time to leave. Who can possible hold the Exchange together? Many people in my state are asking for my resignation right now, but I think I have to stick around, or this place will be even further messed up."
When asked just how big a mess it actually was, Yang replied, "It was a challenging situation and it was very obvious that Massachusetts was not the only state in this kind of challenge."
Yang said there are no more calls for her resignation and that the state has come a long way since she sent that email.
"We've enrolled more than 300,000 people into subsidized coverage, not withstanding all the challenges, and also we have made major progress in getting the it project on track, so I would say the situation has changed substantially," she said.
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Inside the Health Connector offices Thursday, consumer advocates from agencies such as Health Care For All and the Massachusetts Hospital Association were testing out the new website, which staffers say is on track for the Nov. 15 launch. The number one challenge now is to let Massachusetts residents know that they may need to re-apply for health insurance before the end of the year.
"We are actually going to be reaching out to more than 400,000 people in the market who need to go through a transition from their temporary coverage to permanent coverage under the ACA. We have a lot of work to do here," Yang said.
