Washington state’s Obamacare exchange overcharged 13,000 customers by taking too much straight out of their bank accounts this month, according to the marketplace’s CEO, Richard Onizuka.
Exchange customers whose monthly premiums for health coverage are automatically withdrawn said they were over-billed this month, Washington’s KIRO-TV reports.
In the latest of a long line of problems for the exchange, a number of customers wrote on the Obamacare exchange’s public Facebook page about the problem, according to KIRO. (RELATED: Washington’s Obamacare Exchange Is Already Shut Down)
“Would really like to know WHY I was charged TRIPLE this month and when you are fixing the problem,” wrote Gabrielle Whitman. “This is NOT acceptable. No help online or by calling.”
“I got triple billed as well,” Azhar Basit wrote. “I also called and waited on [the] phone and no one picked up after a long wait. This is terrible.”
Onizuka, the CEO of the state-run Washington Healthplanfinder, says the problem had affected 13,000 customers total and that the exchange is working on fixing it within 48 hours.
“Yesterday evening, the exchange was made aware that a portion of Washington Healthplanfinder Qualified Health Plan customers had an incorrect amount withdrawn from their bank accounts during our standard monthly payment process,” Onizuka told KIRO-TV. “The issue affected 13,000 customer accounts that had previously set up automatic payments through their online account.”
“We are working closely with our system integrator, Deloitte, to reverse the incorrect withdrawals as quickly as possible, but no later than the next 48 hours,” Onizuka said. “We apologize to our impacted customers and are working to correct the problem to minimize any further inconvenience they may have already experienced.”
This is not the first time Washington’s exchange has dealt with this problem. During the state’s first year running the Obamacare exchange, customers reported that Washington Healthplanfinder had debited their accounts for double the amount of their premium. The payment glitches persisted for months for between 10,000 and 15,000 people, King 5 News reported last fall.