HHS to send welcome back letters to HealthCare.gov users

Insurers could see a wave of new enrollments if a push from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services can successfully prompt about 275,000 consumers to try again to access the federal health insurance exchange website.

As HHS works to resolve the myriad technical issues plaguing HealthCare.gov, it will start sending letters to consumers who previously tried but were blocked from the online marketplace. Some were unable to log in while others couldn't create accounts or enroll online due to technical glitches, reported McClatchy.

"We want to make sure that we are inviting individuals to come back into the system and that their experience will be a positive one," Julie Bataille, director of Communications for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said in an HHS blog post.

HHS is emailing letters to about 275,000 people, urging them to try to finish their enrollment process wherever they left off. The agency will send the emails in batches of 10,000 at a time to prevent all 275,000 users from accessing the website at the same time, Kaiser Health News reported.

"We're beginning to send messages to those consumers who had account creation issues to let them know they can now try again," Bataille said, adding that the emails will include instructions and tips for enrollment.

The emails could help HHS fulfill its promise that the HealthCare.gov website will be operating smoothly by the end of November.

To learn more:
- check out the HHS blog post
- read the McClatchy article
- see the Kaiser Health News article

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