Almost 7,000 Arizonans at risk of losing health care plans

PHOENIX — Hundreds of thousands of consumers are at risk of losing their health plans purchased through the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace.

Approximately 310,000 consumers have failed to submit required documentation, and the final reminder letters were mailed Thursday. Roughly 6,600 letters were addressed to consumers in Arizona.

“We want consumers to submit the requested paperwork (and) clear this problem up to ensure they get to keep their coverage,” said Pati Urias, spokeswoman for Get America Covered.

According to information provided by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, there is a massive data-match problem related to citizenship and immigration information entered into the Marketplace system.

“There’s a discrepancy of what the federal government has on file and what has been entered into the system,” said Urias.

Consumers have until Sept. 5 to respond or they will lose coverage by Sept. 30.