HealthCare.gov Gets a Redesign for Obamacare Enrollment’s 1st Birthday

HealthCare.gov is getting a makeover ahead of open season in November, when residents of 36 states may use the site to acquire or change their health care plans.

The overhaul should make it faster and easier for consumers to determine their eligibility for insurance plans and simplify the sign-up process in general for most applicants, according to Wired, which got a preliminary outline of the redesign from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that operates the site.

Running on Amazon Web Services, the site’s main page will have a new look and be optimized for mobile devices, according to The Wall Street Journal, which obtained slides from a recent presentation to insurers.

The insurance plan exchange for small businesses is on course to launch by Nov. 15, WSJ reported, after glitches last year forced delays in that part of the health care law.

The redesigned site will also include a new, “built-from-scratch” login system, Wired reported. Glitches in the current system locked users out of HealthCare.gov and exasperated the team brought in to salvage the site after its disastrous launch last fall left it barely usable for about two months.

Some Wall Street Journal sources fear the ambitious revamp won’t be finished by the time open season begins on Nov. 15, creating difficulties similar to those last fall.

CMS spokesman Aaron Albright told Nextgov improvements were based on “what is needed to successfully launch year two in mid-November.” The agency’s goals are to create a better marketplace for insurance plans and maximize enrollment.

HealthCare.gov is the federal health care insurance marketplace serving the 36 states that opted not to create their own health plan exchanges.

The initial version of this story misidentified Amazon Web Services. It has been corrected.

(Image via txking / Shutterstock.com)