Only 136 Iowans Were Able to Purchase Health Insurance On The Government Exchange Last Month

In its first month, only 136 Iowans were able to successfully purchase and sign up for health insurance through the online marketplace that launched October 1st.

That’s right. Only 136 people.

The report issued said that over 5,000 Iowans actually signed up for the exchange – but only 136 people were able to successfully purchase insurance.

Bob Skow, chief executive officer of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa, said the low enrollment numbers were disappointing. “The agents are very frustrated with the red tape, and their inability to get people through the system,” he said. The Iowa total of 136 purchases is “horrible,” he said, adding that some individual agencies write that many policies in a single week.

He’s right – it is disappointing. It’s troublesome for the people who still need insurance, and for those who are stuck and spending hours on the phone and on the defunct website attempting to sign up.

Steve November of Clive is one of the many Iowans who have tried in vain to use the new system. He was able to set up an account, but then he repeatedly got stuck. November, 50, currently lacks health insurance and he expects to qualify for a subsidy to help buy a private policy.

November has worked in information-technology jobs in the past, and he’s been stunned at how badly the launch of healthcare.gov has gone. “I’m pretty discouraged,” he said. “I figured they’d at least have done some testing so they could just fix it with some patches, but this is a disaster.”

Check out the report below: