Obamacare enrollment stymied by exchange glitches

[ProVobis]

Possibly. Maybe the demand was more than they expected. BTW it’s good that people are now referring to it as ACA rather than Obamacare. If it works we can’t have his name on the program. Since the meme has changed quite a bit in the last week, I’m thinking that people are afraid it may become too popular.

Bloomberg reported this morning that the glitches indeed came from an overload of applicants. They have ordered additional servers and tweaked the software so by the end of this week things should be more user-acceptable.

We should call this new version 1.1.

 

[ProVobis]

They are NOT prevented from buying it, they just don’t want to, and want to spend their money on other things.

If this were true, healthcare reforms wouldn’t have been proposed in the first place IMO.

 

[SamH]

Bloomberg reported this morning that the glitches indeed came from an overload of applicants. They have ordered additional servers and tweaked the software so by the end of this week things should be more user-acceptable.

We should call this new version 1.1.

There has been no “overload” of applications - in fact the number of applications is below what was expected.

On October 1, Obamacare’s subsidized insurance exchanges went live. Most of the exchange websites crashed on the first day, a development that led some of the law’s supporters to conclude that there was overwhelming demand for Obamacare’s insurance products. But the Obama administration isn’t releasing figures as to the number of Americans who have actually signed up for exchange-based coverage. “Very, very few people that we’re aware of have enrolled in the federal exchange,” said one anonymous insurance industry official to the Washington Post. “We are talking single digits.”

Exchange agencies walk back high-traffic hype

Other exchanges have had to pare down their initial statistics. Covered California, that state’s subsidized insurance exchange, initially claimed that its website had received 5 million hits on October 1. They later had to revise that number down 87 percent, to 645,000. KUSI-TV in San Diego is reporting that not one policy has yet been sold on the California exchange.

According to Megan McArdle, high traffic alone doesn’t explain why the federal healthcare.gov website is having so many issues. For example, the drop-down boxes for security questions aren’t working, which shouldn’t be a traffic-related problem. “The drop-down thing is mystifying,” a programmer source told McArdle. It “could very easily be because deadline pressure caused them to take some shortcuts that impacted their ability to scale.”

forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/10/03/enrollment-in-obamacares-federal-exchange-so-far-is-in-the-single-digits/

 

[ProVobis]

Do you mean the American healthcare system 30% of the country did not have access to because they were denied coverage for a pre-existing condition? The American healthcare system that capped out at $200,000 and if you needed more coverage you were forced to mortgage your home or wait for death? That healthcare system?

Pretty much, although I’ve seen reports that 1 out of 2 over the age of 50 has a pre-existing condition of some type.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Pretty much, although I’ve seen reports that 1 out of 2 over the age of 50 has a pre-existing condition of some type.

Possible, though i would want to see a reputable source on it.

Of course, with ERISA qualified plans, which virtually all employment-based insurance was, the maximum disqualification period for preexisting was 90 days. If you went from one employment (therefore plan) to another, you weren’t disqualified on the new one at all.

80% of the population had some kind of health coverage before obamacare. Nobody ever knew who didn’t. Some would have been people who just didn’t choose to have it. Some would have been people who qualified for medicaid but didn’t bother because they didn’t need it right then. Some would have been illegals. Some would have been people who just plain couldn’t get it. But nobody knew then, or knows now, who those without coverage were or why they didn’t have it.

Now, of course, people who are subsidized can get the fairly bad plans on the exchanges. People who aren’t subsidized will pay more for those fairly bad plans than they did for insurance before. Some will still have employment-based insurance, but probably a lot fewer than before because of increased costs due to the mandates.

As near as I can tell, then, the people who benefit from Obamacare are those who didn’t have employer-based insurance, made too much to get medicaid, couldn’t afford forced-placement insurance because of preexisting conditions and who made substantially less than the median household income nationwide.

Everybody else, as near as I can tell, is going to be worse off.

 

[SamH]

Pretty much, although I’ve seen reports that 1 out of 2 over the age of 50 has a pre-existing condition of some type.

So 1 out of 2 over age 50 didn’t have health insurance?

 

[SamH]

Possible, though i would want to see a reputable source on it.

Of course, with ERISA qualified plans, which virtually all employment-based insurance was, the maximum disqualification period for preexisting was 90 days. If you went from one employment (therefore plan) to another, you weren’t disqualified on the new one at all.

80% of the population had some kind of health coverage before obamacare. Nobody ever knew who didn’t. Some would have been people who just didn’t choose to have it. Some would have been people who qualified for medicaid but didn’t bother because they didn’t need it right then. Some would have been illegals. Some would have been people who just plain couldn’t get it. But nobody knew then, or knows now, who those without coverage were or why they didn’t have it.

Now, of course, people who are subsidized can get the fairly bad plans on the exchanges. People who aren’t subsidized will pay more for those fairly bad plans than they did for insurance before. Some will still have employment-based insurance, but probably a lot fewer than before because of increased costs due to the mandates.

As near as I can tell, then, the people who benefit from Obamacare are those who didn’t have employer-based insurance, made too much to get medicaid, couldn’t afford forced-placement insurance because of preexisting conditions and who made substantially less than the median household income nationwide.

Everybody else, as near as I can tell, is going to be worse off.

My son’s pe existing condition runs from $60,000 to $400,000 a year to treat. We’ve never been without health insurance.

 

[zz912]

If this were true, healthcare reforms wouldn’t have been proposed in the first place IMO.

It is true, and health care “reforms” and Obamacare were never intended to fix the situation. They are meant as a stepping stone for full govt control of health care, which the leftists have been honest about. Feel free to educate yourself about the true make up of those who were uninsured before Obamacare.

 

[SamH]

It is true, and health care “reforms” and Obamacare were never intended to fix the situation. They are meant as a stepping stone for full govt control of health care, which the leftists have been honest about. Feel free to educate yourself about the true make up of those who were uninsured before Obamacare.

Agreed. Before all this started the “satisfaction rate” with health care in America was about 75%. Anyone think it will be that high after ACA takes full effect?

 

[Carlan]

My son’s pe existing condition runs from $60,000 to $400,000 a year to treat. We’ve never been without health insurance.

Good heavens, Your coverage must be golden, How thankful you must be that you are able to afford it, I don’t believe most middle class could handle the cost of such , perhaps you could share the name of your company so others suffering from preexisting conditions could not suffer from being dumped or refused!

 

[SamH]

Good heavens, Your coverage must be golden, How thankful you must be that you are able to afford it, I don’t believe most middle class could handle the cost of such , perhaps you could share the name of your company so others suffering from preexisting conditions could not suffer from being dumped or refused!

Blue Cross Blue Sheild - provided through my employer.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Good heavens, Your coverage must be golden, How thankful you must be that you are able to afford it, I don’t believe most middle class could handle the cost of such , perhaps you could share the name of your company so others suffering from preexisting conditions could not suffer from being dumped or refused!

I can’t say it’s “golden” since ALL ERISA-qualified employer health plans have to cover preexisting conditions after a waiting period.

That might change with Obamacare, because of the increased cost to employers and employees of coverage. that’s why Obama put the employer mandate off for a year, so people wouldn’t know how bad Obamacare really is before the 2014 elections.

But it will be bad, because the costs of coverage will increase greatly due to mandates in Obamacare that will NOT be offset by subsidies the way some (but not all) of the individual rate increases will be in the exchanges. Also, there are taxes on the insurance companies to help finance Obamacare’s subsidies, which will be passed along to individuals and their employers.

 

[SamH]

I can’t say it’s “golden” since ALL ERISA-qualified employer health plans have to cover preexisting conditions after a waiting period.
.

And if you move from group coverage to group coverage there is no waiting period.

 

[qui_est_ce]

I can’t say it’s “golden” since ALL ERISA-qualified employer health plans have to cover preexisting conditions after a waiting period.

That might change with Obamacare, because of the increased cost to employers and employees of coverage. that’s why Obama put the employer mandate off for a year, so people wouldn’t know how bad Obamacare really is before the 2014 elections.

But it will be bad, because the costs of coverage will increase greatly due to mandates in Obamacare that will NOT be offset by subsidies the way some (but not all) of the individual rate increases will be in the exchanges. Also, there are taxes on the insurance companies to help finance Obamacare’s subsidies, which will be passed along to individuals and their employers.

But is there a waiting period when you switch from one job to another? I remember that when I changed my job (and insurance) they didn’t ask about any pre-existing conditions. As long as you already have a plan, you can switch.

 

[qui_est_ce]

And if you move from group coverage to group coverage there is no waiting period.

Just answered my post. Thanks.

 

[qui_est_ce]

Agreed. Before all this started the “satisfaction rate” with health care in America was about 75%. Anyone think it will be that high after ACA takes full effect?

It really annoys me there is so much misinformation out there. Like “they can drop you” and “pre-existing conditions.”

 

[Ridgerunner]

It really annoys me there is so much misinformation out there. Like “they can drop you” and “pre-existing conditions.”

Obamacare was conceived in the ignorance of most, born of sheer political power, and is one lie stacked upon another.

The Repubs are taking a lot of heat for their opposition to it. Likely they want to at least be able to say they tried hard to rescue the country from it. Obama kept part of its untoward results away from the public for going on three years, then another part for another year, always because of elections. By 2016, it will be pretty clear to everybody what a disaster it really is. But it will also be locked in so tightly that only a “supermajority” + a Repub in the white house could undo it. And, it will have gained a constituency of the few who will actually be better off for it.

So, possibly the only opportunity possible is right now.

 

[qui_est_ce]

Obamacare was conceived in the ignorance of most, born of sheer political power, and is one lie stacked upon another.

The Repubs are taking a lot of heat for their opposition to it. Likely they want to at least be able to say they tried hard to rescue the country from it. Obama kept part of its untoward results away from the public for going on three years, then another part for another year, always because of elections. By 2016, it will be pretty clear to everybody what a disaster it really is. But it will also be locked in so tightly that only a “supermajority” + a Repub in the white house could undo it. And, it will have gained a constituency of the few who will actually be better off for it.

So, possibly the only opportunity possible is right now.

True. Social Security is a sacred cow that is here to stay.

 

[JonNC]

Possibly. Maybe the demand was more than they expected. BTW it’s good that people are now referring to it as ACA rather than Obamacare. If it works we can’t have his name on the program. Since the meme has changed quite a bit in the last week, I’m thinking that people are afraid it may become too popular.

Its not intended to work. Its intended to lead into a single-payer system.

Jon

 

[JonNC]

Agreed. Before all this started the “satisfaction rate” with health care in America was about 75%. Anyone think it will be that high after ACA takes full effect?

And this is so important, because the President could have worked to develop a health care or health insurance bill (two different things, btw) to deal solely with those in need, in a way of lowering Medicaid costs and improve care. But, instead, he chose to acquire and control all American’s health care and insurance, to the point of cancelling the religious liberty of many Americans.

Jon