Covered California shunting callers to website due to high volume

When local insurance broker Cerrina Jensen called Covered California’s customer service line Wednesday morning with a question from a small employer client, she got a message about high call volume, was told to go to the website — and "goodbye."

“I’m totally blown away,” she said. “All the millions we’ve invested in this thing and we can’t even get through to one of the new state-of-the art call centers?”

Although there is an ebb and flow to call volume, there are times when the service centers are “at capacity and beyond,” Covered California spokeswoman Anne Gonzales said. “It’s all hands on deck. We are trying to accommodate people, but at certain times, we reach capacity. Sometimes people are told to wait, but sometimes they are redirected to the website.”

Call volume hit capacity last week, even though all 1,288 lines were open, Gonzales said. There’s been a rush of interest in the new marketplace now that coverage for 2014 has begun, but open enrollment for individuals continues through March 31. Jan. 15 is the deadline for premium payments for coverage that began Jan. 1, though.

Jensen called the regular customer service number: 800-300-1506. By 1:30 Wednesday, the service center had received 6,023 calls.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2014/01/08/covered-california-shunting-callers-web.html