Forbes Says: Obamacare Website Crashing Because It Doesn't Want You to Know the Price

[RoadVirus]

Day 15 since Bozocare was launched. Website still sucks. People are learning the hard, dark truth about it.
Situation status: FUBAR

 

[bendog]

Paranoia and Forbes' pathetic need for attention after being dismantled by bushii in 2000. But what's funny is that the website clusterfk is apparantly because the federal nimrods who designed the federal sites decided people had to create accounts BEFORE checking prices. Compare that centralized planning mindset to any online shopping ... like Amazon or Walmart. You only need an account to make purchase ... not to price compare.

Additionally, w/o Cruz and the TPM, the gop prolly gets year delay on this trainwreck so they can get a bit of the stuff straigned out.

 

[Zoom-boing]

You know.................if you already have health insurance through your job or privately, this law does not affect you, right?

However...................if you do not, or already have a pre existing condition, it WILL help you get insurance so you can live?

Sorry, but the scary stories about Obamacare (aka the ACA or Affordable Care Act), are false. The ACA will help those who need insurance but can't afford it (under the current rules of insurance), as well as will help those people who are ineligible because of pre existing conditions.

Me personally? I served 20 years in the military, and every time I needed a doctor, dentist or eye doctor, all I had to do was tell my supervisor and head for the clinic.

It works for the military, why can't it work for the civilians?

Completely and totally wrong. My brother is 55, single, no kids, has a catastrophic plan that fits his needs. As of 12/31/13 it. is. gone. due to not being aca compliant. Know what that means? It means the plan that he chose because it fit his needs does not cover maternity, newborn, or pediatric care (including vision and dental). Can you tell me why a 55 yr old, single, no kids guy should have to pay for any of that??

As for pre-existing conditions ... why in the hell should people who do not have any pre-existing conditions have to pay more just so those pre-existing folks get to pay a lowered rate? PE means you are a higher risk; you should pay more if you're a higher risk! wtf?? If this is the new norm, let's let newly licensed 16 yr olds pay the same rate as a 30 year, accident free driver, mmkay? That sound about right?

 

[Zoom-boing]

I finally got onto the website. I created an account and was logged in, I clicked the 'want to learn more first? start here' link.

Below is what pops up after you click to learn more. Note what is bolded and a bigger font (which is how it is on the website page). Actually, what is in a bigger font is on every freakin page that loads. It also gives a chart of "# of people in household" and "income range to qualify for lower costs".

This isn't the application for Marketplace coverage. No information you enter here will carry over to your application.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The prices shown on this tool don't reflect the lower costs you may qualify for based on household size and income.

Most people who apply will pay lower monthly premiums than those shown here. Households with yearly incomes up to about $46,000 for individuals or $94,000 for a family of 4 will qualify for lower costs. You'll get final quotes for specific plans based on your income and household after you complete a Marketplace application.

It gives the catastrophic, bronze, silver, etc. info but it just says: "xx% of the total average costs of care".

The last page says:

IMPORTANT NOTE: The prices here don't reflect the lower costs you may qualify for based on household size and income.

Most people who apply will pay lower monthly premiums than those shown here. Households with yearly incomes up to about $46,000 for individuals or $94,000 for a family of 4 will qualify for lower costs. You'll get final quotes for specific plans based on your income and household after you complete a Marketplace application.

To find out if you may qualify for lower costs, use this simple calculator.

All health plans and stand-alone dental plans may not be available at this time, due to technical issues. We'll update this information as soon as it's available.

https://www.healthcare.gov/find-pre...ud=indv&type=med&state=PA&cov=self&age=50plus

No actual prices were given. You do need to create an account (I did that) and then enter personal information in order to get actually prices (I didn't do that).

Note the last bolded, above. They had 3 1/2 years to get this thing up and running and wtff?? they can't even do that and you can't check prices unless you enter personal info first. Smells like bullshit.

 

[koshergrl]

Yeah, it's much, much worse than anyone even anticipated.

Not only is it screwed up for people who qualify (but can't get enrolled) it's screwed up the coverage of the people who are already enrolled. The feds have taken over the medical, and people are losing their medical and being assigned to ridiculous providers because of it. I've talked to people who have received calls from their primaries saying they are no longer covered, and they can't figure out how to choose their coverage because their zip code isn't included on the paperwork for the areas covered...

Crazy stuff like that. Kids are losing care because of it. Dental appointments are being put off till later, shots postponed.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

hey liberals.....wouldn't it have been so much easier to just hand out vouchers to those who needed help to buy healthcare....?

but then the marxist leninists wouldn't have as much control would they....?

 

[koshergrl]

Plus they wouldn't have access to our bank accounts that way.

 

[Kathy58]

Crossposted;

5 Truths about Obamacare;

ACA was sold to America based on: deception

Deception #1: universal coverage

Deception #2: no new taxes on the middle class

Deception #3: annual premium savings of $2,500

Deception #4: no increase in the deficit

Deception #5: you can keep your plan if you like it

 

[MeBelle]

You have to read this to believe it. Only Obama and his people could do this crap.

Obamacare's Website Is Crashing Because It Doesn't Want You To Know How Costly Its

You have to be an idiot DittoTard to believe that crap. Healthcare.gov has a link to estimating your cost without having to fill out an application.

https://www.healthcare.gov/how-can-...-and-savings-on-marketplace-health-insurance/

Estimate cost and actual cost are two different things.


What is cost estimate? definition and meaning
An approximation of the probable cost of a product, program, or project, computed on the basis of available information.

What is actual cost? definition and meaning
An actual amount paid or incurred, as opposed to estimated cost or standard cost.

Your post proved the OP correct!

 

[francoHFW]

So the .gov facebook page is full of loudmouth brainwashed hater dupes who know nothing about ACA but bs propaganda...same thing here lol...

 

[francoHFW]

I finally got onto the website. I created an account and was logged in, I clicked the 'want to learn more first? start here' link.

Below is what pops up after you click to learn more. Note what is bolded and a bigger font (which is how it is on the website page). Actually, what is in a bigger font is on every freakin page that loads. It also gives a chart of "# of people in household" and "income range to qualify for lower costs".

This isn't the application for Marketplace coverage. No information you enter here will carry over to your application.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The prices shown on this tool don't reflect the lower costs you may qualify for based on household size and income.

Most people who apply will pay lower monthly premiums than those shown here. Households with yearly incomes up to about $46,000 for individuals or $94,000 for a family of 4 will qualify for lower costs. You'll get final quotes for specific plans based on your income and household after you complete a Marketplace application.

It gives the catastrophic, bronze, silver, etc. info but it just says: "xx% of the total average costs of care".

The last page says:

IMPORTANT NOTE: The prices here don't reflect the lower costs you may qualify for based on household size and income.

Most people who apply will pay lower monthly premiums than those shown here. Households with yearly incomes up to about $46,000 for individuals or $94,000 for a family of 4 will qualify for lower costs. You'll get final quotes for specific plans based on your income and household after you complete a Marketplace application.

To find out if you may qualify for lower costs, use this simple calculator.

All health plans and stand-alone dental plans may not be available at this time, due to technical issues. We'll update this information as soon as it's available.

https://www.healthcare.gov/find-pre...ud=indv&type=med&state=PA&cov=self&age=50plus

No actual prices were given. You do need to create an account (I did that) and then enter personal information in order to get actually prices (I didn't do that).

Note the last bolded, above. They had 3 1/2 years to get this thing up and running and wtff?? they can't even do that and you can't check prices unless you enter personal info first. Smells like bullshit.

Sure. BOOOSH'S Medicare and Apple's IPO were messes too...BFD, hater dupe...how come there are no complaints about estimates being wrong. You and this idiot BLOGGER should shove your stupid paranoid propaganda...

 

[WelfareQueen]

I finally got onto the website. I created an account and was logged in, I clicked the 'want to learn more first? start here' link.

Below is what pops up after you click to learn more. Note what is bolded and a bigger font (which is how it is on the website page). Actually, what is in a bigger font is on every freakin page that loads. It also gives a chart of "# of people in household" and "income range to qualify for lower costs".

This isn't the application for Marketplace coverage. No information you enter here will carry over to your application.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The prices shown on this tool don't reflect the lower costs you may qualify for based on household size and income.

Most people who apply will pay lower monthly premiums than those shown here. Households with yearly incomes up to about $46,000 for individuals or $94,000 for a family of 4 will qualify for lower costs. You'll get final quotes for specific plans based on your income and household after you complete a Marketplace application.

It gives the catastrophic, bronze, silver, etc. info but it just says: "xx% of the total average costs of care".

The last page says:

IMPORTANT NOTE: The prices here don't reflect the lower costs you may qualify for based on household size and income.

Most people who apply will pay lower monthly premiums than those shown here. Households with yearly incomes up to about $46,000 for individuals or $94,000 for a family of 4 will qualify for lower costs. You'll get final quotes for specific plans based on your income and household after you complete a Marketplace application.

To find out if you may qualify for lower costs, use this simple calculator.

All health plans and stand-alone dental plans may not be available at this time, due to technical issues. We'll update this information as soon as it's available.

https://www.healthcare.gov/find-pre...ud=indv&type=med&state=PA&cov=self&age=50plus

No actual prices were given. You do need to create an account (I did that) and then enter personal information in order to get actually prices (I didn't do that).

Note the last bolded, above. They had 3 1/2 years to get this thing up and running and wtff?? they can't even do that and you can't check prices unless you enter personal info first. Smells like bullshit.

Sure. BOOOSH'S Medicare and Apple's IPO were messes too...BFD, hater dupe...how come there are no complaints about estimates being wrong. You and this idiot BLOGGER should shove your stupid paranoid propaganda...

Sorry.....

 

[JakeStarkey]

What a lie. From the OP post 1.

Obamacare's Website Is Crashing Because It Doesn't Want You To Know How Costly Its

The Healthcare.gov website requires that individuals looking for coverage enter personal information before comparing plans. IT experts believe that this requirement is causing the website to crash.

 

[WelfareQueen]

What a lie. From the OP post 1.

Obamacare's Website Is Crashing Because It Doesn't Want You To Know How Costly Its

The Healthcare.gov website requires that individuals looking for coverage enter personal information before comparing plans. IT experts believe that this requirement is causing the website to crash.

Jake, I'm not sure what your point is. Per the article, the website is crashing because it will not give consumers an initial price quote like every other health plan website. It forces everyone to input an enormous amount of very personal information before you can get a quote, hence the website frequently crashes. The article clearly states this was a political decision by the Obama White House because they knew consumers would get sticker shock if they could get a price quote right away.

Is anything about this unclear to you? I thought the article was very straightforward.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

You have to read this to believe it. Only Obama and his people could do this crap.




Obamacare's Website Is Crashing Because It Doesn't Want You To Know How Costly Its


The Healthcare.gov website requires that individuals looking for coverage enter personal information before comparing plans. IT experts believe that this requirement is causing the website to crash.

A growing consensus of IT experts, outside and inside the government, have figured out a principal reason why the website for Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchange is crashing. Healthcare.gov forces you to create an account and enter detailed personal information before you can start shopping. This, in turn, creates a massive traffic bottleneck, as the government verifies your information and decides whether or not you’re eligible for subsidies. HHS bureaucrats knew this would make the website run more slowly. But they were more afraid that letting people see the underlying cost of Obamacare’s insurance plans would scare people away.

HHS didn’t want users to see Obamacare’s true costs

“Healthcare.gov was initially going to include an option to browse before registering,” report Christopher Weaver and Louise Radnofsky in the Wall Street Journal. “But that tool was delayed, people familiar with the situation said.” Why was it delayed? “An HHS spokeswoman said the agency wanted to ensure that users were aware of their eligibility for subsidies that could help pay for coverage, before they started seeing the prices of policies.”

As you know if you’ve been following this space, Obamacare’s bevy of mandates, regulations, taxes, and fees drives up the cost of the insurance plans that are offered under the law’s public exchanges. A Manhattan Institute analysis I helped conduct found that, on average, the cheapest plan offered in a given state, under Obamacare, will be 99 percent more expensive for men, and 62 percent more expensive for women, than the cheapest plan offered under the old system. And those disparities are even wider for healthy people.

That raises an obvious question. If 50 million people are uninsured today, mainly because insurance is too expensive, why is it better to make coverage even costlier?

Political objectives trumped operational objectives

The answer is that Obamacare wasn’t designed to help healthy people with average incomes get health insurance. It was designed to force those people to pay more for coverage, in order to subsidize insurance for people with incomes near the poverty line, and those with chronic or costly medical conditions.

But the laws’ supporters and enforcers don’t want you to know that, because it would violate the President’s incessantly repeated promise that nothing would change for the people that Obamacare doesn’t directly help. If you shop for Obamacare-based coverage without knowing if you qualify for subsidies, you might be discouraged by the law’s steep costs.

So, by analyzing your income first, if you qualify for heavy subsidies, the website can advertise those subsidies to you instead of just hitting you with Obamacare’s steep premiums. For example, the site could advertise plans that “$0″ or “$30″ instead of explaining that the plan really costs $200, and you’re getting a subsidy of $200 or $170. But you’ll have to be at or near the poverty line to gain subsidies of that size; most people will either not qualify for a subsidy, or qualify for a small one that, net-net, doesn’t make up for the law’s cost hikes.

This political objective—masking the true underlying cost of Obamacare’s insurance plans—far outweighed the operational objective of making the federal website work properly. Think about it the other way around. If the “Affordable Care Act” truly did make health insurance more affordable, there would be no need to hide these prices from the public.

Subsidy verification created a traffic bottleneck

Comparable private-sector e-commerce sites, like eHealthInsurance.com, allow you to shop for plans and compare prices simply by entering your age and your ZIP code. After you’ve selected a plan you like, you fill out an on-line application. That substantially winnows down the number of people who rely on the site for network-intensive tasks.

The federal government’s decision to force people to apply before shopping, Weaver and Radnofsky write, “proved crucial because, before users can begin shopping for coverage, they must cross a busy digital junction in which data are swapped among separate computer systems built or run by contractors including CGI Group Inc., the healthcare.gov developer, Quality Software Services Inc., a UnitedHealth Group Inc. unit; and credit-checker Experian PLC. If any part of the web of systems fails to work properly, it could lead to a traffic jam blocking most users from the marketplace.”

Jay Angoff, a former federal official at the agency that oversees the exchange, told the Journal that he was surprised by the decision. “People should be able to get quotes” without entering all of that information upfront.

Weaver and Radnofsky say that the core problem stems from “the slate of registration systems [that] intersect with Oracle Identity Manager, a software component embedded in a government identity-checking system.” The main Healthcare.gov web page collects information using the CGI Group technology. Then that data is transferred to a system built by Quailty Software Services. QSS then sends data to Experian, the credit-history firm. But the key “identity management system” employed by QSS was designed by Oracle, and according to the Journal’s sources, the Oracle software isn’t playing nicely with the other information systems.

Oracle hotly denies these claims. “Our software is the identical product deployed in most of the world’s most complex systems…our software is running properly,” said an Oracle spokeswoman in a statement.

‘It’s awful, just awful’

Robert Pear and colleagues at the New York Times have a piece up today detailing the serious problems with the federal exchange, problems that may get worse, not better. They confirm what we already knew: that the Obama administration refused to delay the implementation of the exchanges, despite the well-known problems, because they were afraid of the political blowback. “Former government officials say the White House, which was calling the shots, feared that any backtracking would further embolden Republican critics who were trying to repeal the health care law.”

As I documented last week, IT and insurance experts have been saying for at least eight months that implementation of the exchanges was going badly, that as early as February officials were warning of a “third world experience.” The Times’ sources are just as blunt. “These are not glitches,” said one insurance executive. “The extent of the problems is pretty enormous. At the end of our [conference calls with the administration], people say, ‘It’s awful, just awful.’”

“We foresee a train wreck,” said another executive in a February interview with the Times. “We don’t have the IT specifications. The level of angst in health plans is growing by leaps and bounds. The political people in the administration do not understand how far behind they are.” Richard Foster, the former chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said last week that “so much testing of the new system was so far behind schedule, I was not confident it would work well.”

Henry Chao, the deputy chief information officer at CMS who made the “third world experience” comment, was told by his superiors that failure to meet the October 1 launch deadline “was not an option,” according to the Times.

White House knowingly chose to court disaster

Think about it. It’s quite possible that much of this disaster could have been avoided if the Obama administration had been willing to be open with the public about the degree to which Obamacare escalates the cost of health insurance. If they had, then a number of the problems with the exchange’s software architecture would have been avoided. But that would require admitting that the “Affordable Care Act” was not accurately named.

They knew that their people on the front lines, people like Henry Chao, were worried that the exchanges would get botched. They saw the Congressional Research Service memorandum detailing that the administration has missed half of the statutory deadlines assigned by the law. But they were more afraid of the P.R. disaster of disclosing Obamacare’s high premiums than they were of the P.R. disaster of crashing websites. What you see is the result.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc7xF17O-Ck]Just what do you think you are doing, Dave? - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Moonglow]

You can call the health exchanges if you don't use a computer.

 

[WelfareQueen]

You can call the health exchanges if you don't use a computer.

They refuse to give price quotes over the phone...but you're welcome to try it.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

You can call the health exchanges if you don't use a computer.

You cannot enroll in Obamacare unless you open an account online.

 

[Moonglow]

You can call the health exchanges if you don't use a computer.

They refuse to give price quotes over the phone...but you're welcome to try it.

Don't need to. The ACA is not affecting me at all.

 

[Politico]

What if you don't have a phone?