October 2, 2013 – Cover Oregon, the state’s new health insurance marketplace, is open for business. At CoverOregon.com, Oregonians can begin shopping for a health insurance plan that’s right for them and find savings to help to pay for it.
“Our first day was a good day. Thousands of Oregonians can now get health insurance, even if they have a pre-existing health condition or have not been able to afford coverage in the past. Our launch is not only about access to health insurance, it is about better health for Oregonians and Oregon,” said Howard “Rocky” King, Cover Oregon’s executive director.
“While we experienced some bumps, as we knew we would, we had a successful first day and I’m so grateful to our staff and partners for all they’ve done to get us here. Tomorrow will be better than today, and the next day will be better than that. We ask that you have patience as we work hard to fix bugs and update features in what we believe is a top-notch system for Oregonians.”
Here are some brief updates:
- As of 8:00 a.m. today, 122,000 people had visited our website, resulting in more than one million total hits. That’s equal to nearly 21 percent of all the uninsured people in Oregon.
- More than 3,500 people have called our Service Center. It can be reached at 1-855-CoverOR (toll free 1-855-268-3767), is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and can help people in multiple languages.
- The conversation is flowing on Facebook and Twitter. Please follow us and join in by using Twitter hashtag#COgolive.
Editor’s note:
To access B-roll and footage from the media briefing, as well as other media materials, go to:https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wpd2owdfen3fvlz/sY_BSZU197
To access a recording of the media briefing, go to: https://coveror.webex.com/coveror/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=71174797&rKey=e735844e2ef71cd9
