Sunday, October 20, 2013

New report says that 476,000 people have signed up for the Affordable Care Act through the exchanges. Or as Ted Cruz would say, "Just more evidence that Obamacare is an abject failure."

Courtesy of the AP:  

Administration officials say about 476,000 health insurance applications have been filed through federal and state exchanges, the most detailed measure yet of the problem-plagued rollout of President Barack Obama's signature legislation. 

However, the officials continue to refuse to say how many people have actually enrolled in the insurance markets. Without enrollment figures, it's unclear whether the program is on track to reach the 7 million people projecting by the Congressional Budget Office to gain coverage during the six-month sign-up period. 

Obama's advisers say the president has been frustrated by the flawed rollout. During one of his daily health care briefings last week, he told advisers assembled in the Oval Office that the administration had to own up to the fact that there were no excuses for not having the website ready to operate as promised. 

The president is expected to address the problems on Monday during a health care event at the White House. Cabinet members and other top administration officials will also be traveling around the country in the coming weeks to encourage sign-ups in areas with the highest population of uninsured people. 

The first three weeks of sign-ups have been marred by a cascade of computer problems, which the administration says it is working around the clock to correct. The rough rollout has been a glaring embarrassment for Obama, who invested significant time and political capital in getting the law passed during his first term. 

The officials said technology experts from inside and outside the government are set to work on the glitches, though they did not say how many workers were being added. 

Officials did say staffing has been increased at call centers by about 50 percent. As problems persist on the federally run website, the administration is encouraging more people to sign up for insurance over the phone.

So gee that is almost half a million people who, once their application is processed, would most likely lose their coverage if  the Affordable Care Act was repealed or defunded.

In another few months it might be cool million.

And then two.

And three.

And...well you get my drift.

And as those numbers pile up it just becomes that much more difficulty to  convince Americans that trying to repeal this new law is something that THEY should support. ESPECIALLY those of us getting access to health care for the first time.

The rollout may have been sloppy as hell, but clearly there are still people flooding the system and that does not exactly suggest that the program is disliked by the majority of Americans, as those on the Right keep reporting as fact.

Personally I have decided to wait just a week or two more to make sure that the glitches are gone before taking the plunge. This is a big decision for me, and I want to make sure that it happens with as little frustration as possible.

But I WILL get it. After all, it's the law.

34 comments:

  1. AJ Billings6:56 AM

    As an IT guy with 20 some years in the business, I can respect how difficult a prospect this was setting up a website that interfaces with many different agencies for the 30 some states that refused to offer a website of their own

    States like Vermont and Massachusetts are doing very well with enrollments on their private exchanges because their governors and legislators made it work

    Some governors of other states like Georgia have actively worked to oppose the ACA, and have made it harder to even sign up.

    The real challenge is that healthcare.gov was probably too big and complex for the companies that the Federal government contracted with to build the website and the connecting technology.

    If I had to make recommendations for who should do the job, it would be just 4 bidders that would even be considered:

    Google, Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft in that order. Google
    serves literaly hundreds of millions of individuals and companies around the world every day in mission critical applications.

    Too bad they didn't pick market leaders, but I'm still hopeful that the ACA will eventually fix the issues.

    I have been able to sign up and get registered on the site, and my login is enabled to get enrolled, but I'm waiting at least another month before attempting that due to all the issues.

    I'm going to go get some time with an ACA advisor at my local Planned Parenthood office before picking a plan, because some of the plans have options that require research, and they know the most about them

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:51 AM

      I think the plan could have worked, IF the states would have done their jobs, like Minnesota, California and the states you mentioned and the others that jumped on board.
      But, if you aren't going to qualify for for financial assistance, any insurance site or insurance agent can help you. The plans for 2014 are all the same on the ACA website or through Blue Cross or Kaiser, for example.

      Delete
    2. Anita Winecooler6:37 PM

      Thanks for your input, AJ. My company's IT department had pretty much the same advice. The bidders you mentioned would have made great prototypes for getting a system in place to roll out a product effectively.

      Delete
  2. Paul Revere7:20 AM

    Reporting from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which gave you the Tea Party to begin with, all you teabaggers:

    We've had Romneycare for seven (7) years. Thanks, Mitt! I see the same doctors I've seen for 25 years. I can afford to be sick -- although that's the last thing I want to be! But I'm not afraid of what a catastrophic car accident would do to our savings, or if the prescription for my daughter will mean no fuel oil this month.
    I don't live in fear, and that, dear teabaggers, is the greatest liberty of all.
    The conservatives are afraid you'll have choices, and that you can make decisions on your own. Of course, they want to keep you ill-informed and led around by their lies.

    For all who can or need to, please sign up with the ACA. Declare your freedom from lies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:18 AM

      But mainly, Paul revere, that your employer can't treat you like a slave because you are desperate for health care for you or your family.

      Delete
    2. Bet 3/5 will be stinkin baggers on
      God sent "Obamacare."

      Delete
  3. Paul you said it all. I would't be surprised if baggers were actively deliberately sabotaging and undermining the whole process. They are the lowest.

    OT
    Stonekettle station is on fire. It's well worth the read. Funny, insightful, interesting, funny and the damn truth

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7:47 AM

    FYI
    If you need healthcare or are helping anyone else get healthcare here is some valuable info for all of my IM friends to share.

    If you are not going to qualify for financial assistance you can skip the government site and go directly to the insurance companies direct site, Kaiser, Blue Cross or to an insurance agent that handles healthcare. They have the same plans available, the same exact plans.

    I know this because I helped friends get signed up and mentioned it to my insurance guy, he took care of it for them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous7:54 AM

    Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, talked about the fiscal goals and legislative agenda of progressive interest groups, along with their political and campaign strategies heading in to the 2014 elections. He also spoke about the future of sequestration and efforts to head off cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

    http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/AdamGr

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous8:09 AM

    A Governor’s Last Campaign: To Prove Health Law Works

    In the windowless nerve center that resembles a campaign war room, Gov. Steven L. Beshear studied projections on a wall showing that 600 people were logged on to the state’s health insurance exchange.

    Some 34,000 had begun applications, and more than 11,000 had signed up for plans, making Kentucky one of the most successful state-run insurance marketplaces under the new federal health care law.

    “You are all doing a fantastic job,” Mr. Beshear told two dozen bleary-eyed workers.

    In a state where dislike of President Obama runs strong and deep, Mr. Beshear, a Democrat, has positioned himself as a champion of the Affordable Care Act, out ahead of public opinion. It has endeared him to the White House at a time when news of the problem-plagued federal exchange, HealthCare.gov, has been embarrassing and damaging.

    “My message to Kentuckians is simply this,” Mr. Beshear said in his office in the State Capitol. “You don’t have to like the president; you don’t have to like me. Because this isn’t about him, and it’s not about me. It’s about you, your family and your children. So do yourself a favor. Find what you can get for yourself. You’re going to like what you find.”

    Kentucky is the only Southern state to operate its own insurance exchange as well as expand Medicaid coverage for the poor. It is an anomaly on the polarized political map, and a test — in a red state that has elected to the Senate Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, and Rand Paul, a Tea Party favorite — of whether bitterness over the law will dissolve if people decide it effectively provides affordable health care.

    www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/us/politics/a-governors-last-campaign-to-prove-health-law-works.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous8:20 AM

    In which John Green attempts to apply for new health insurance coverage using the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges and then through a private insurer that existed before the ACA (aka Obamacare) went into effect.

    It's of course too soon to tell which of these options will be cheaper, which will offer the best coverage, and so on, but I wanted to explore how the (still very glitchy) exchanges compare to the pre-ACA experience of trying to get approved for coverage.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql9RVy6FWkg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:55 AM

      FYI
      The insurance companies sell the same plans for the same price on the ACA website or on theirs. He will find no difference for any policies that he would get for 2014 and beyond.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9:20 AM

      The difference is the subsidies.

      Delete
  8. But Gryph, Sarah says the ACA doesn't work! It's on breitfart it must be true. ;-) Note she plugs "undefeated" at the end of the rant.

    (sorry for the link to crazyville)

    http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/10/20/Sarah-Palin-Exclusive-Op-Ed-DC-Corrupt-Bastards-Club?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:22 AM

      Sentences: 1
      Words: 213

      Here's ONE statement from her most recent diatribe:

      And finally, what legal standing does this monstrosity of a death care masquerading as a health care law have which incentivizes doctors to get grandpa and grandma to check our early, and now has the government encouraging palliative care masquerading as euthanasia studies to help that process along in hospital ERs as abortion is nothing more than pre-natal euthanasia with euthanasia being post-natal abortion with the latter being a logical consequence of the former, when the law that was unconstitutionally passed by a rogue Congress, signed into law by a despot masquerading as an American whose policies are geared to one thing and one thing only, the destruction of a free America from within, upheld by a rogue SCOTUS under a Chief Justice who decided to rewrite the law on its own giving it a life that
      it never deserved, and for which, that Chief Justice will forever live in infamy, is NOT the law that Obama is enforcing given his many unconstitutional modifications to it, i.e., a law that, in reality, ISN'T, per The Constitution, and, as such, requires no obedience whatsoever by those REAL Americans in more than name only following The Constitution per the intent of the founding fathers for the sake of the survival of a Constitutional Republic?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9:41 AM

      Does she think that the Alaska Native Health Care works? Free health care cradle to grave for all those tribal members, some 20% of Alaskans. Why doesn't she rail against that federally sponsored freebie? (That's OK, we already know why she doesn't even mention THAT entitlement).

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:21 AM

      It looks like the original article has changed. Maybe this 'turd' was sent to RAM to polish and got posted to Breitbart by mistake. WTH?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:32 AM

      Check out this pic of SP in DC. She looks like a boy with bolt-ons and a wig.

      https://scontent-b-pao.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1378035_10151945047058588_378500476_n.jpg

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:53 AM

      Does anyone have a screen shot of the original insane document....which is insane even for SP? Apparently she calls the President a sociopath? The original has since been taken down and replaced with what is there now....but I think it's important to locate a copy of the original and spread the word. Fucking nuts.

      Delete
    6. I love how she complains that Obamacare will ruin everyone's life, and that it's so hard to sign up for. Reminds me of the Woody Allen joke at the beginning of Annie Hall: "the food was terrible. And the portions were so small." BTW, my workplace started implementing the ACA in 2010, and the only change so far is that my premiums have gone down and my lifetime limits are gone. Oooo, and she wants to be able to punish people with pre-existing conditions? Like the child with leukemia?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:32 AM

      Mistake with the above quote -- it was a C4P bot's rambling. Funny the bots think/write just like Palin sounds...

      Delete
    8. Anonymous9:53 PM

      Anon @ 9:41, For starters, Alaska Native Health Care doesn't work like Obamacare. Natives don't have to pay to belong to the club. It's paid by all American taxpayers, and Natives get the benefits.

      Now this Obamacare, if the only only comes from the new pool that's created of 7 million people, Hmmmm if the rates are so great for the people at the bottom, the bottom 3.5 million, then the top 3.5 million will be paying the difference. Not such a great deal for them. The money has to come from somewhere.

      Delete
  9. Beldar J Conehead, sufferable douchebag9:36 AM

    Say, Gryphen, here's a fun fact for the last few librul deadenders still visiting your defunct blog: the letters in the name "Rafael Ted Cruz" rearrange to spell "insufferable douchebag".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You left out a few, Beldar.

      The remaining letters spell idiot.

      Delete
    2. @ScreechyPAC 1019a

      I stand corrected. Thanks for catching that rookie mistake. I did the best I could in the limited time allotted....

      Delete
  10. Anonymous9:38 AM

    Along with that 500k, don't forget the many millions of seniors that are enjoying preventative tests (sponsored by AHCA), the millions of Seniors who are getting partial and eventually total relief from the Donut Hole (sponsored by the AHCA), and the millions of youngsters who can stay on their parents' insurance through college and grad school, til 26 (sponsored by AHCA), and the many children who are already accepted into plans that don't block them because of pre-existing conditions or lifetime caps (thanks to AHCA), and I believe there were adjustments to the many people who had to get COBRA, with more relief to come. I wish the dems would emphasize ALL these facets of AHCA and not just the trials and tribulations of the exchanges.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous9:58 AM

    Simply amazing the extent to which some people go, to try to stop poor people from being able to see a doctor.

    Absolutely shameful...especially when it comes from someone who fancies himself a "religious" person.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anita Winecooler6:24 PM

      Thanks for mentioning that. Despite people mistaking her for a man, last I heard, Sarah Palin is female. What alternatives does she offer?
      What alternatives do the Republicans have?

      Delete
  12. I have said it before and I will say it again, I would bet my last dollar the Repub's are behind these "shenanigans" (the glitches in the ACA rollout). Remember, they were going to steal the elections by hacking the system. I can't wait to be proven right!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have said it before and I will say it again, I would bet my last dollar that the Repub's are behind these "shenanigans" (the glitches in the ACA rollout). Remember, they were going to steal the elections for Romney by hacking into the voter systems.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have said it before and I will say it again, I would bet my last dollar the Repub's are behind these "shenanigans" (the glitches in the ACA rollout). Remember, they were going to steal the elections by hacking the system. I can't wait to be proven right!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anita Winecooler6:44 PM

    These glitches are unfortunate. Now the latest poutrage is with Kathleen Sebilius, who won't be testifying on "Obamacare Glytch Ghazi Hearings" (Echoes of Susan Rice, perhaps?).
    Gryphen is looking at the big picture, People have until March of 2014 to sign up. The glitches DO reflect poorly, but it's something that's filed under "Stuff Happens". What's important is Obamacare is the Law, computer glitches can be fixed. No one can force my kids to get their own coverage while in College, No one can deny me nor put me in a high risk pool because I had the big "C", and once people see the benefits, the ACA will work as it was intended.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous9:43 PM

    So you call a 7% signup a success?

    ReplyDelete

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