HealthCare.gov may be working better than when the administration of Barack Obama first launched it months ago, but it still has some serious problems that are causing headaches for tens of thousands of Americans who tried to sign up for insurance.

At least 22,000 individuals experienced errors while choosing a health plan, and the appeals system that was supposed to be in place to correct such mistakes is inoperable at this time, according to The Washington Post.

These Americans contend they were charged too much for their insurance, were given the wrong coverage, or were denied coverage altogether.

Legal advocates have pressured the administration to jump-start the appeals system for fixing mistakes. But officials have countered that the best thing individuals can do for now is to go back to HealthCare.gov and try to correct the problems themselves.

Or they can file an appeal by mail only, but these requests will just sit in an agency office until the appeals system is set up.

Getting the system going is “not among the top priorities for completing parts of the federal insurance exchange’s computer system that still do not work,” Amy Goldstein wrote at the Post.

Other fixes on the administration’s to-do list include “an electronic payment system for insurers, the computerized exchange of enrollment information with state Medicaid programs, and the ability to adjust people’s coverage to accommodate new babies and other major changes in life circumstance,” she wrote.

“It is definitely frustrating and not fair,” Addie Wilson of West Virginia, who earns $22,000 a year working with at-risk families, told the Post after she signed up for insurance. She said the system wound up charging her $100 a month more than she expected and that her deductible is $4,000 too high.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

HealthCare.Gov Can’t Handle Appeals of Enrollment Errors (by Amy Goldstein, Washington Post)

Insurers Still Reporting Errors on Obamacare Applications (by Tami Luhby, CNNMoney)

Healthcare Site Problems Prevent Thousands of Medicaid Sign-Ups (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)