About 70 Minnesota state went down while an automated call system tied up the phones of the state’s health insurance-selling agency today, according to the Duluth News Tribune. The situation was all the worse because today was the first day individual health insurance policies were available through the agency.
An information technology official said the two incidents didn’t appear to be linked, but together they threw a wrench into the works for many Minnesotans who were trying to apply early for individual insurance policies, according to the News Tribune.
The robocalls flooded the phone banks of MNsure, the state’s insurance agency, with thousands of calls before the agency even opened for business at 8 a.m., and the calls continued until the agency was able to block them.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said he didn’t know the source of the calls, or if they were politically motivated, according to the News Tribune. However, MNsure and the Affordable Care Act have been hot political issues in Minnesota this election season.
Meanwhile, the agency’s website was available only to people who already had accounts. The site was down for about half an hour at midday, but technicians were able to restore limited functionality.
Today was the first day people wanting insurance could purchase individual policies, according to the News Tribune. About 5% of Minnesotans depend on those policies, not getting coverage through an employer or government programs.
