Heller hears complaints about Obamacare at Las Vegas round table

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller said he heard a lot of complaints Tuesday about how difficult it is to sign up for health care insurance in Nevada under the new law and how some policies are too costly, especially for young people who are healthy.

Heller’s comments came after he hosted a round table with about three dozen health care professionals, insurance sellers, small-business people and other interested parties in Las Vegas. The event was closed to the public and the media. But the Republican senator from Nevada described those involved in the meeting as “frustrated” by the new health care system.

“I got an earful,” Heller said after the two-hour meeting at a conference room inside a building near his congressional office. “There’s a lot of need for improvements. There wasn’t a lot of love for the Nevada exchange.”

Heller said that so far, some 25,000 Nevadans have lost insurance coverage since the law went into effect, partly because insurance companies have discontinued policies that didn’t comply with President Barack Obama’s signature legislation. Meanwhile, Heller said only about 11,000 Nevadans have signed up and paid for new Obamacare policies.

“Right now, we’re failing miserably,” he said.

Heller noted that he voted against Obamacare, although he said it’s now the law of the land and so he wants to help Nevadans comply with the law and gain better access to health care insurance at the same time. He also said he likes some parts of the law, including a provision that prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. Also, he favors allowing children to stay on their parents’ plans until the age of 26.

Heller said he’s no longer working for repeal of the law, however, since that’s unrealistic with Obama still in office.

During the round table, Heller said most complaints were about how difficult it is to access the Silver State Exchange, which Nevada is running instead of allowing the federal government to manage the health care system. He said the telephone wait time is about two hours to talk to someone. And he said if a person makes a mistake while filling out the online application to sign up, there’s no ability to go back for corrections or additions and the person must start over.

Filling out paperwork and mailing an application is proving to be less frustrating, Heller said.

Cost was another hot topic. While some people are seeing a drop in premiums by signing up, others are seeing their insurance premiums rise. As a result, Heller said there’s talk among some people of not signing up and paying the penalty instead. The problem is, the penalty rises each year, Heller said, and people won’t have insurance as required.

Young people are not signing up as hoped either, Heller said. Many have car payments, for example, of $350 a month and don’t have the money to pay that much for health care, too, which they don’t think they need. The health care system, however, is designed to spread the costs among the sick and healthy and the young and old to make it work.

“We’re trying to get more young people to sign up,” Heller said. “It’s cost prohibitive for a lot of people.”

Heller said he believes the state and federal governments have to educate the public more about the best ways to gain access and find a good health care insurance deal. He said some insurance sellers told him people have been coming in thinking that Obamacare is free. Also, it takes several hours to explain the new system, the underwriters said.

Heller suggested the governments tell people what to except, including how long they might have to wait on phone calls and the times when the system is less busy so that signing up will be less frustrating.

Now, “You’re lucky you don’t get hung up on,” Heller said, citing complaints from the round table.

The Nevada exchange also has to serve non-English speakers better, including Hispanics and Asians, Heller said.

Despite problems with the Nevada exchange, Heller said he favors state control. Also, he noted that the problems with the federal government health care insurance system and its website have been far more serious.

Obama gave small businesses a one-year reprieve to comply with the law. But businesses are still worried that they’re going to have to choose between expanding their companies with new hires and buying insurance coverage, said Katherine Jacobi of the Nevada Restaurant Association, who attended the round table.

She said business owners also want clarification on what constitutes a seasonal or part-time worker, a type of employee that’s common in the Southern Nevada tourist and gaming industries.

“They want to provide insurance, but the costs are overwhelming,” Jacobi said of small businesses. “And it’s still so confusing. The law could curtail expansion of businesses. It’s a real concern, especially since we’re just recovering” from an economic downturn.

Contact reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow her on Twitter @lmyerslvrj.