Fort Collins, CO – Colo. Man’s Dog Gets ObamaCare Insurance Coverage Instead Of Owner

Fort Collins, CO – The Colorado Healthcare Exchange can add one dog to its list of many covered under their insurance.

Fox 31 News in Denver (http://bit.ly/1cHUk2c) reports that Shane Smith, of Fort Collins, Colo., says he received a letter notifying him that a health insurance account had been opened in Baxter’s name through Connect for Health Colorado. Just one problem – Baxter is Smith’s dog.

“I thought, ‘Wow, this is so awesome,’” Smith said with a laugh. “They have gone out of their way to insure my 14-year-old Yorkie.”

Smith’s old insurance plan was cancelled due to Obamacare, and he called Connect for Health Colorado to sign himself up for new coverage. Although not entirely sure how the confirmation letter was inadvertently sent to his dog, Smith says it’s possible that series of security questions a representative queried him over the phone caused the confusion.

“There was some kind of code or something, so I gave them my dog’s name,” Smith said. “They must have just put it in the wrong slot or something.”

With all of the other stories covering the headaches involved with Obamacare nationally, Smith says this error doesn’t seem so bad compared to others, and he was able to correct the mistake quickly, however, Smith says he won’t believe it until he sees the end result.

A spokesperson for Connect for Health Colorado released this statement:

“In general, our letters to customers are generated according to information that is provided by the customer into the system either online or over the phone. In other words, our system does not make up a name when generating a letter. As with any new system, mistakes are possible and when notified by customers, we work quickly to resolve the situation.”