Cover Oregon Mistake Enrolls Senator in Medicaid

Yet another mistake by Oregon's troubled health insurance exchange is coming to light: The state mistakenly enrolled a U.S. senator in Medicaid, the health insurance plan for the poor.

Sen. Jeff Merkley told The Oregonian that he discovered the error when he got a letter congratulating him on his enrollment in the Oregon Health Plan, the state's Medicaid program.

The Affordable Care Act requires members of Congress to buy private insurance through the exchanges established by the law.

Oregon was unable to launch an enrollment website that would automatically process applications. So applications from Merkley and thousands of others were processed by hand. Hundreds had errors.

Merkley, a Democrat who supports the health care law, called the enrollment process "horrific." But he says the error has been corrected.