Feds and Health Care

[Frostbit]

Absolutely the worst combination imaginable.

[scott]

Absolutely the worst combination imaginable.

Yup, and it's going to get way way worse.

[phillygirl]

Okay, so I tried to compare the prices in Pennsylvania for small businesses. I've spent a solid 15 minutes trying to scroll through the states. I can't get to Pennsylvania to save my soul. Ridiculous set up.

[gary m]

I can't get to Pennsylvania to save my soul.

I thought that deal had been sealed some time ago.

[Adam]

And the tragedy/comedy of errors just continues....

Insurers say faulty data from ObamaCare marketplaces is straining their ability to handle even the first wave of consumers who were able to sign up for health insurance using federally run exchanges during the glitch-ridden rollout of the new law.

Executives at more than a dozen health insurance companies say they have received data from online marketplaces that is riddled with errors, including duplicate enrollments, missing data fields and spouses reported as children, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

[....]

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Nebraska, which has about 50 ObamaCare enrollees, said it had to stop enrollments from coming through automatically and hire temporary workers to contact customers to fix inaccuracies in submissions, according to the report.

Joan Budden, a marketing executive at Michigan-based Priority Health, told the newspaper that staff are reaching out to new customers to make sure they are enrolled in the correct plans, after realizing that some had signed up for multiple plans.

Well, I suppose that's one way to address unemployment: create a government fuck-up so big that the private sector has to hire more workers to clean up the gigantic mess that Barack Obama personally created.

[Gramps]

Well, I suppose that's one way to address unemployment: create a government fuck-up so big that the private sector has to hire more workers to clean up the gigantic mess that Barack Obama personally created.

unintended consequences....

bad part is they will be sucking money from people who actually pay taxes

[Tom Servo]

The site's going to be down this weekend for "scheduled maintenance".

I'm sure that they will be able to fix all the errors overnight. Riiiight.

There's just so little to like about this mess, that it has actually swayed me even further from my libertarian roots into wanting full blown single payer, complete with all the horrors that could entail.

Seriously, it wasn't until a week or so ago that I found out (through another forum, not the healthcare website) that I was even exempt from this stupid law. It's true. I have zero income this year and last, so I don't file taxes and people who don't pay taxes are exempt. But because I'm in a Republican state, even if I wanted something for nothing, I couldn't get it because Medicare also doesn't cover me. My cost for a silver plan is going to be the same if my income is $0 a year or $50,000: $276/month.

I'm not sure exactly whose bright idea it was to have it work out that way, but needless to say unless I cash in my 401(k) I won't be buying insurance or paying the fine. Fuck 'em.

What really bothers me is that this thing is bad no matter how one slices it for the average uninsured American. You either wind up getting on Medicaid or getting some sort of subsidy, which adds to our national debt, OR you have to find some way to take $100-500 a month out of your paycheck when most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck as is. The cries of "bankruptcies will all but vanish!" conveniently ignore what will happen when the middle class has to give up a cell phone or video games or eating out twice a week or all of the above to pay for this new burden, which isn't even going to be that great of coverage. Seems like the only people who benefit are the insurance companies.

[Adam]

Five MILLION lines of code to re-write. Unbelievable.


Potentially amusing irony ahead, as pointed out by Britt Hume yesterday: it's becoming ever more likely that Obama will be forced to delay the individual mandate due to all of these problems and the inability of people to sign up and comply with the law. IOW, do exactly what the House GOP were asking him to do in the first place, for which he flatly refused to negotiate.

[Billy Jingo]

Five MILLION lines of code to re-write. Unbelievable.


Potentially amusing irony ahead, as pointed out by Britt Hume yesterday: it's becoming ever more likely that Obama will be forced to delay the individual mandate due to all of these problems and the inability of people to sign up and comply with the law. IOW, do exactly what the House GOP were asking him to do in the first place, for which he flatly refused to negotiate.

What would he (or Democrats in general) have to gain in said negotiations?

[Adam]

What would he (or Democrats in general) have to gain in said negotiations?

At this point, saving face.

He could have seized upon this from the first day and said "OK, it's only fair that individuals get the same special breaks that I'm giving big businesses and unions and the like, and it's pretty clear that this isn't ready for prime time anyway, so let's put off the individual mandate for a year and we'll fix these problems together."

[Billy Jingo]

At this point, saving face.

He could have seized upon this from the first day and said "OK, it's only fair that individuals get the same special breaks that I'm giving big businesses and unions and the like, and it's pretty clear that this isn't ready for prime time anyway, so let's put off the individual mandate for a year and we'll fix these problems together."

That isn't a gain.

Regardless, when have the Republicans in the House or Senate indicated that they are open to fixing any problems with the Affordable Care Act in order to make it more effective?

[phillygirl]

What would he (or Democrats in general) have to gain in said negotiations?

Is it about him and the Democrats, or is it about the American people, whom they claim to govern?

[Billy Jingo]

Is it about him and the Democrats, or is it about the American people, whom they claim to govern?

I am not following you on this one. I think Adam was talking about the president's refusal to negotiate with some Republicans over the debt ceiling.

[phillygirl]

I am not following you on this one. I think Adam was talking about the president's refusal to negotiate with some Republicans over the debt ceiling.

I thought this had to do with the individual mandate.

[Billy Jingo]

I thought this had to do with the individual mandate.

So it is just a political issue about whether or not you think the individual mandate is a good thing for the American people? Not really a negotiation. More of a disagreement.