Technical problems won’t prevent people who need it from getting health coverage by Jan 1, officials said, citing new hires by Cover Oregon to process applications by hand.

Programmers for Oregon's health exchange will continue to battle problems while the backup plan -- old-fashioned temps processing forms by hand for Cover Oregon-- take center stage.

The announcement by the state's new health exchange means it missed another hoped-for startup date, of Halloween. Because the website hasn’t enrolled anyone yet, agents are increasingly nervous that if the delays are not fixed then sick, less-affluent people who need tax credits from the exchange could lose coverage Jan. 1, after their old polices expire. To do so, they must enroll by Dec. 15.

Officials, however, say they’ve got it under control. ““We encourage Oregonians to get started now with an electronic or paper application,” said Howard “Rocky” King, executive director of Cover Oregon. “Even with our current online system challenges, we will make sure that no one gets left behind.”

Applications can be filled out by hand or downloaded from the website at coveroregon.com. Call Cover Oregon at

855-268-3767

for help.

The hand-processing began in mid-October. But officials for Oregon’s new health exchange said Thursday they’re hiring 60 temporary workers to join more than 20 exchange workers already processing paper applications. The exchange is training more employees and talking to other state agencies about additional help.

Most people already enrolled in the individual market, meaning those who don't get insurance through their employer or Medicare, have the option to automatically be transferred to other policies as their old polices are cancelled due to federal law changes.

Those who should be paying attention to exchange's delays and the Dec. 15 deadline include the neediest of several thousand of those currently enrolled in the state’s last-resort program for people who couldn’t get covered anywhere else due to pre-existing conditions. Pre-existing conditions won’t be an issue under the new federal health changes, so the Oregon Medical Insurance Pool is going away Jan. 1.

The latest plan reflects a

for the website that officials first hoped would be operational by mid-October, then Halloween. Under

kicking in next year, Cover Oregon was supposed to be a "one-stop-shopping" website, letting consumers in the individual market compare plans, enroll and qualify for tax credits or other government assistance.

Cover Oregon communications director Amy Fauver says she expects the enrollment portion of the website will be up and running before Dec. 15, though that isn’t an official target. Cover Oregon officials no longer issue hoped-for online startup dates, saying they’re concerned about accuracy first.

As low-tech hand-processing becomes Cover Oregon’s main plan for now, programmers continue to scramble on the high-tech, federally funded website, which has cost more than $140 million, nearly half its budget.

--Nick Budnick