Today I found that there is a new feature at Healthcare.gov for those who have a working account but are caught in a loop or otherwise having problems with their applications. There is now a button to delete your problematic application and start over within your working account.
However, I also found an even better surprise; they had fixed the error that was causing my application to always crash at the same point.
So, if you have a working account but haven't been able to get through the application process because of bugs or errors, and you haven't checked on your account in the last few days, then you may want to log in and see if they've fixed the problem with your application. And if the application is still stuck; you may want to delete it and start over.
If you have one of the early accounts that you can't log into or is otherwise corrupt, it now seems reasonable to suggest starting over with a new account, including a different username and password, and, to be on the safe side, a different email address.
So, with the problem fixed, I was able to sail through the rest of my application and enroll in an insurance plan. Once I chose my plan, the site sent me to the insurance company's site for payment. My plan is through NCBCBS, and since my current plan is also through NCBCBS, their site said that I did not need to do anything else. So apparently I'm done.
!!!
I'm guessing my original corrupted account is still out there in the system, as are the two previous applications (one incomplete and one complete) that I made over the phone that are associated with that account. However, it doesn't look like that corrupted account and those applications are causing any problem for the new account; and at the moment it looks like I am finally enrolled in Obamacare!
Just wanted to pass along this information to those for whom it might be helpful. I hope everyone is able to get successfully and timely enrolled.
Enjoy your day,
David