WSJ sheds light on more Obamacare issues

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In Nevada, about 150 people have joined a lawsuit seeking class-action status against that state's exchange and Xerox Corp. XRX +0.08% , which helped set up the marketplace. Thousands of residents remain uninsured despite paying premiums or completing all steps to enroll, according to the suit, filed in Clark County.

Robert Rolain of Las Vegas, one of the plaintiffs, said that in October, he signed up his wife, Linda, using the state exchange for a Nevada Health Co-Op plan starting March 1.

In November, a tumor was found on her brain, and doctors discussed surgery.

Mr. Rolain paid $136 toward the first month's premium, which was offset by a tax credit of $420, according to a copy of his statement and a receipt. Mr. Rolain said he was dumbfounded when he took his wife to an oncologist in March and learned she wasn't covered. They postponed surgery for two months, he said, until they got notice that she was insured.

"She wasn't so far along when they found the spot. Now the doctor said it had spread up the whole left side of her head," said Mr. Rolain, 73, whose wife had surgery May 14.

By then, Ms. Rolain's survival prospects had diminished. She died June 30.

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In Massachusetts, Dan Hoye signed up on the state exchange to obtain coverage through Tufts Health Plan for himself and his wife, Rosemarie. A copy of a bill from the exchange shows he was making his monthly premium payments of $646.

When his daughter, Holly, was born April 26, he said he contacted the exchange to put her on their plan. But her coverage didn't start until June 25, he said, almost two months later. He said he was shocked in early May when he got a call from his uncle, her pediatrician, informing him Holly wasn't insured.

"What if there was a medical emergency, what then?" asked Mr. Hoye, 31, of Taunton, Mass. The insurer made the coverage retroactive.

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In Redwood City, Calif., Ron Susek said he applied on the state exchange for a Kaiser Permanente plan to begin April 1, but the online confirmation gave him a January 2014 start date. He paid the premium and added a note that it was for the month of April, he said.

In May, an employee for the Covered California exchange agreed to correct the error by canceling the plan with the January start date and processing an application for an April start, he said.

Yet he got a letter on May 26 saying his insurance was terminated. He still hasn't received a notice of coverage, he said, but was told June 26 by Kaiser that he would be covered under a "believe me" program where the insurer provides services to people who say they signed up on the exchange.

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This is pretty serious. So we have some citizens paying premiums that still aren't covered, some that can't change plans after a "life-changing event", and a "BELIEVE ME" program. And these aren't single case scenarios.

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Some figures have been made public. Minnesota said it has a backlog of about 6,500 requests for changes due to a life event while Oregon reported about 8,200 such requests pending.

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