Tuesday, October 1, 2013

"healthcare.gov is already broken"

The first day of healthcare signups for the Affordable Care Act — more commonly known as Obamacare — got off to a bumpy start Tuesday morning, as the healthcare.gov website suffered technical glitches before being temporarily shut down altogether.
“We’re working to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” the website told users who attempted to sign up for health insurance. “Please try again later.”
Prior to the site shutting down, users who attempted to create an account were guided through various steps (such as picking a user name and password) but the process came to a grinding halt when it came time to pick various “security questions” for the account. The drop-down menu of security question options simply didn’t work.
“And healthcare.gov is already broken,” complained Kelly Campbell on Twitter, who joined others in venting their frustration online. “Can’t sign up for an account because all the security question options are blank.”
 Surprise! Obamacare health insurance exchange websites don’t work; HealthCare.gov a total mess

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/01/3662645/health-insurance-marketplace-plagued.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/01/3662645/health-insurance-marketplace-plagued.html#storylink=cpy

86 comments:

ricpic said...

They had three years to set the exchanges up, these government geniuses, THREE YEARS. Only death panels will save Obamacare. Let the culling begin!

YoungHegelian said...

And, if, by some chance, the Exchanges screw-up morphs into total disaster (and there's a good chance it will), just wait and see what the investigation uncovers when it comes to who the feds contracted the work out to.

I'm predicting lots out work out to Demo donors and "ethnically favored" 8a firms, all of whom will have had precious little experience with rolling out web based applications that have to scale to a national level.

Or, then again, maybe the RNC is more devious than we think, and the whole development team consisted of Republican moles.

Icepick said...

I blame Republicans. (Not really, but it seems like the thing to say, us know?)

KCFleming said...

It's working precisely as designed.

MugabeCare.

ricpic said...

You puny individual with your puny concern for your individual health, don't you understand that Obamacare is a great growth spurt for government? How petty-paltry is your miniscule individual well being compared to that great good!

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

A sitcom opportunity for the taking.

Matt Sablan said...

The breaking of the system melds perfectly with the breaking of the barricades in front of the WWII memorials. Everything is breaking!

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Glitchcare.

It's for your own good.

MSM reporting with full blanket that GOP is to blame for shutdown. Ignoring completely that the dems will not negotiate like real adults.

Senate democrats refuse to take Obamacare for themselves and their high paid staffers.

Icepick said...

The breaking of the system melds perfectly with the breaking of the barricades in front of the WWII memorials.

Did they break the barricades then?

Again, I'm reminded of the scouring of the Shire, and the refusal of those returning from the war to put up with the bullshit.

Revenant said...

I bet many, if not most, of the people having trouble with the site think the problems are caused by the "government shutdown".

deborah said...

"A sitcom opportunity for the taking."

If only an HBO series dared to make a black comedy, a modern Catch-22.

KCFleming said...

"A sitcom opportunity for the taking."

Breaking Bam.

edutcher said...

They say this like we didn't know it.

And some of us knew it when Pelosi Galore said, "We have to pass it to see what's in it".

KCFleming said...

"We have to pass it to see what's in it"."

Same advice given for kidney stones, but passing them hurts less.

Palladian said...

I received an email from the HR department at work, telling us about the wonders that await us in Obamacare. At the end of the email, the HR director put a quote from Barack Obama:

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

This is in a company-wide email.

It's not worth even trying to fight it anymore.

KCFleming said...

"It's not worth even trying to fight it anymore."

Like with kidney stones, narcotics can be helpful.

Palladian said...

Like with kidney stones, narcotics can be helpful.

I need a Michael Jackson-sized dose of propofol.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

The irony here is that without the shutdown the minor glitches in the Obamacare roll-out would be exaggerated into front page news. With the shutdown, this is now a minor story and to a considerable degree confused with the shutdown itself.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
KCFleming said...

So has 'ironic' taken on a new meaning?

Does it now include "minor news items swamped by bigger news"?

KCFleming said...

Or do you seriously believe the MSM would complain about Obamacare's glitches.

Because that would be funny if you did.

Palladian said...

So has 'ironic' taken on a new meaning?

Well, he redefined the word "reasonable", so why can't he redefine "ironic"?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

You have to admit it would have received more attention in the absence of the shutdown. There is only so much news on a given day.

KCFleming said...

So you meant "Isn't it funny."

Waitaminnit, is ARM really Alanis Morissette?

KCFleming said...

"Well, he redefined the word "reasonable", so why can't he redefine "ironic"?"

Did he also redefine "man" and "a"?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Palladian said...
Well, he redefined the word "reasonable"


What are you so bitter about? You will probably benefit from the NYS exchange. The exchanges are great for creative people who change jobs regularly. They provide continuity of coverage for contract and part-time workers.

KCFleming said...

"reat for creative people who change jobs regularly"

Unless you leave the state.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Well, to pursue this a little, since the goal of the shutdown is to bring down Obamacare, it would appear unhelpful to obscure the day when the worst of the teething problems were likely to occur.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Pogo said...

Unless you leave the state.


Yet another argument for a single payer system.

Palladian said...

The exchanges are great for creative people who change jobs regularly

Some "creative people" don't like being subjects of the State. But where we were once "free-thinkers", we're now "the enemy".

Palladian said...

Yet another argument for a single payer system.

Everything is always yet another argument for Statism with you people.

KCFleming said...

"Yet another argument for a single payer system."

So Obama fucks up health care and your answer is to give him even more power.

Brilliant.

Palladian said...

So Obama fucks up health care and your answer is to give him even more power.

Brilliant.


It's the old "Communism hasn't failed, it just hasn't been implemented properly!" thing.

Time for another Five Year Plan!

KCFleming said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
KCFleming said...

ARM's into state-as-religion.

His beliefs are unfalsifiable.

If MugabeCare fails: Needs more State:!

If MugabeCare succeeds (heh: Needs more State:!

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Pogo said...
So Obama fucks up health care


Where is the evidence that Obama 'fucked up' health care? Or the federal government for that matter. The price controls in medicare make it the most efficient provider of health care in the country.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Palladian said...
Some "creative people" don't like being subjects of the State.


Are you seriously trying to argue that buying health care through an exchange makes you more of a subject of the state than having to pay taxes or follow the labyrinthine criminal code?

bagoh20 said...

Tags: "Obamacare glitch" or "Dublin canal"

It's really a toss up on which of those is gonna get more use in the future.

test said...

AReasonableMan said...
They provide continuity of coverage for contract and part-time workers.


Of course this was already available under the old system, and at lower rates. It makes sense ARM prefers to compare Obamacare to nothing since that's the only comparison it beats. But it's strange he thinks anyone is fooled, and even stranger he claims to "understand the details".

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Marshal said...
Of course this was already available under the old system, and at lower rates.


Even most Republican commentators don't believe this or they wouldn't be constantly suggesting conservative reform alternatives to Obamacare to deal with exactly these particular problems.

bagoh20 said...

So ARM blames the lack of media coverage on the Republicans. I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.

And of course the failure of big centralized government is caused by it not being big enough.

The left really is a century-old, one note lullaby.

Methadras said...

Palladian said...

I received an email from the HR department at work, telling us about the wonders that await us in Obamacare. At the end of the email, the HR director put a quote from Barack Obama:

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

This is in a company-wide email.

It's not worth even trying to fight it anymore.


And that's how you are defeated, little by little, increment by increment, and finally when the hammer drops to end it, you just say fuck it. That's how leftism works. It's not even brazen anymore in it's ability to want to screw you and your entire populace. Now it's fuck you, what are you gonna do about it, huh? We are the government and we are everywhere. Nanny Nanny Nanny an neener neener.

Methadras said...

AReasonableMan said...

Even most Republican commentators don't believe this or they wouldn't be constantly suggesting conservative reform alternatives to Obamacare to deal with exactly these particular problems.


I swear to god if you had been sitting in front of me while uttering this shitpile of garbage I would have smacked you in the face for the lying stupidity it is.

Methadras said...

AReasonableMan said...

The irony here is that without the shutdown the minor glitches in the Obamacare roll-out would be exaggerated into front page news. With the shutdown, this is now a minor story and to a considerable degree confused with the shutdown itself.


Are you going to honestly suggest, as irony, that the shutdown is being used as a diversion for the rollout snafu and to continue masking it's utter failure? Even the "shutdown" didn't stop it's rollout. Surprise.

test said...

AReasonableMan said...
Even most Republican commentators don't believe this or they wouldn't be constantly suggesting conservative reform alternatives to Obamacare to deal with exactly these particular problems.


We've already seen ARM is incapable or unwilling to understand those he disagrees with. Rather than trying to dig out what silly talking point he read at the DU and repeats so earnestly let's test his assertion with a more reliable source. Here is commentary from an intelligent, honest, moderate liberal:

Fallacies about Obamacare:

9. People with pre-existing conditions will be able to buy insurance in the private market for the first time. I used to believe that I was uninsurable in the private market, because I have a (fairly boring) autoimmune disease. My colleague Virginia Postrel, a breast cancer survivor who buys insurance in the private market, set me straight. Since the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act passed in 1996, people with pre-existing conditions can still be covered as long as they maintain health coverage.

By private market she means not through an employer. So not only is coverage available to those with unusual employment, it's available even for those with pre-existing conditions.

So who are we to believe, a commentator with a track record of honest disagreements with both sides describing something she purchased, or ARM's unsupported repetition of weed inspired drum circle talking points?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-27/11-pieces-of-obamacare-conventional-wisdom-that-shouldn-t-be-so-conventional.html

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Methadras said...
I swear to god if you had been sitting in front of me while uttering this shitpile of garbage I would have smacked you in the face for the lying stupidity it is.


Let's leave aside the delusional fantasies of physical omnipotence. I do not understand what your point is. There has been considerable discussion on the right regarding the inadequacies of the existing health system. Are you arguing that this is not the case?

The health exchange idea came from the Heritage Foundation.

Here is a rundown of some of the other discussions.

http://freebeacon.com/the-right-medicine/

No one who has put the least bit of thought into the current system thinks we are getting a reasonable bang for our buck or that it was equitable. If you like wasting money on a seriously flawed system then the status quo was fine, I guess.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Marshall, if your argument had significant validity then Obamacare would have no effect whatsoever on eligibility or affordability of health care since there would be no existing problem. No one seems to agree with you. It appears to be universally acknowledged that more people will be eligible for affordable health care under the new system. I have not heard any one seriously argue that fewer people will be covered under the new scheme.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Surprise! The bozos here don't understand that website glitches were a result of high traffic volume! Nice way to pretend that the program has no interest!

"It was so popular that it didn't work," claim Rethugs!

test said...

Note ARM's attempt to change the subject.

Originally he claimed The exchanges are great for creative people who change jobs regularly. They provide continuity of coverage for contract and part-time workers.

In order for this to be a benefit it would have to be different from prior practice, which is not true. When challenged on this he doubled down on stupid. And when proven wrong instead of admitting error he then tries to pretend the dispute is whether fewer people will be covered under the new scheme.

I can't tell whether he's this poor a thinker or he's such a partisan he feels he has to protect the shield even at the cost of looking a fool. If the latter he ranks with Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Matt Sablan said...

When people can't log in to their game of choice, that makes tech news. People not being able to handle their legal obligations thrust upon them by the government, due to the government's failure, is more than a glitch.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The exchanges are great for precisely the people who don't have insurance, Marshall - the working poor. People who lack employer-coverage or can't start a business because they have to choose between transplants and capital. Whatever the case, the sites' volumes showed that there's tremendous interest. How poorly do you want to parse down the case with one debater on one obscure Blogspot website? Are you against a marketplace/exchange of insurers for consumers to choose from? This wasn't initially a controversial bone for Rethugs to pick. But they sure will chisel away in any way possible, won't they? Go brave Rethugs! Prevent hard-working Americans from getting coverage! So valiant is your cause!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

They get three months to do it, Sablan. This is day #1. And it's not a nerdy programmer's ecosystem like World of Warcraft. High interest is not something you can spin negatively. Go be responsible and fund the government like you're supposed to and put another techie (or twelve) on the job and stop opposing the interest of the citizens to constructively use their government to navigate a newly opened marketplace to them from which to choose a plan. Stop reveling in the idea that preventing people from being responsible enough to take advantage of newly available insurance is a good thing.

Matt Sablan said...

Republicans offered several compromises to fund the government in the short term while a long-term bill was worked on. Democrats rejected it.

Democrats chose not to pass their legally required budget multiple times, not Republicans.

Study recent history before spouting off.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Key word here: "Short term".

Americans are fed up, as the president said, of doing everything on a purely contingent basis while the Rethugs take advantage of permanent "crisis mode" to rearm. Enough. Put together a long-term, durable compromise or admit that you have no good-faith interest in working with the representative interests of 75% of the American people. No, you're not going to turn that 25% into a majority in time for the next election. Do it now. With the facts in front of you. This contempt for the program and how you allow the government to function is a downright embarrassment.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Democrats are entirely right to reject this hijacking of a functioning government. No negotiation with terrorists.

This is a prime example of what needs to go in the Rethug party. One of you already admitted to me that it was ok for Repubbies to harm the economy, if the blame could redound to their political opponent. Now we see it more clearly, as everyone did in the 1990s. It's terrorism, it's not a legitimate tactic, it shows how crazy the right-wing roots are, they need to be doused.

virgil xenophon said...

"MugabeCare"

POGO has unerringly chosen the correct descriptive term--and not by accident, I'll wager. Even a few moments reading of the news over the past year would suggest we are slowly but surely slipping into the world inhabited by Zimbabwe and South Africa. As in both countries, black gangs now rage thru American cities with virtual impunity attacking whites, and political opponents while Obama and his minions remain silent before their depredations even as they themselves hurl the most vile sort of invectives at their political opponents in a blatant attempt to dehumanize/discredit them and make them non-persons politically. Meanwhile, again as in Zimbabwe and S. Africa, sweet-heart financial deals are doled out to political crony's at the expense of the producing part of the populace even as the economy shrinks/collapses while the leftist-infested bureaucratic and political federal nomenklatura feathers their nests at the expense of taxpayers--even as they arm their agencies to the teeth with SWAT-teams and military-grade weaponry in anticipation of civil discontent.

As someone once wrote (was it D'isouza?) it is the classic African "Big Man" way of doing business..

bagoh20 said...

"This is day #1."

Well, there is that, but we'll never be here again. The good old days when it was just a computer glitch.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Marshal said...
And when proven wrong


I do not think you have proven anyone wrong and, speaking of honesty, Meghan McArdle is not a liberal.

There is broad agreement that a wide range of people are locked out of the current health insurance system. If that wasn't the case Obamacare would have no effect on coverage rates, which no one thinks will be the case. As you can see from the news reports, millions of people are interested in signing up. You seem determined to ignore the empirical evidence on the subject. I note no one else on the blog has chimed in to support your claim that HIPAA had solved all eligibility problems. No doubt because they know people who did in fact have eligibility problems.

bagoh20 said...

" As you can see from the news reports, millions of people are interested in signing up."

People are interested in finding out what it is, what it's gonna cost, what their options are, because they have to. Not because they want to. You might have noticed it was all over the news how important it was, and yet nobody knows anything about it, including the people who passed it. All people had to do to address that natural concern was simply click on a website. That's not a desire to sign up, but it is a demonstration of a less than clear reading of a simple fact.

chickelit said...

The entire Tea Party and even their supporters here are terrorists and need to be put on an FBI or Homeland Security watch list. I'm tired of all the groundless insinuations and threats against our beloved and historic President and his legacy.

/ritmo

chickelit said...

I don’t remember anybody suggesting Apple should stop selling iPhones or iPads, or threatening to shutdown the company if they didn’t. Because the Federal Government is pretty much exactly like a large successful corporation. People who work for them have good paying jobs and they pay taxes. They both contribute equally to the broad middle class. They probably vote for both Republicans and Democrats though I'd like it better if they just voted Dem because I can't begin to even understand a reason for anything the rethuglican party stands for. I can't understand why the entire nation doesn't want what President Obama has masturfully created in Washington DC as a model city.

Did I mention that I'm really pissed off about the ongoing struggle for marriage equality?

/ritmo

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

People are interested in finding out what it is, what it's gonna cost, what their options are, because they have to. Not because they want to.

This is total bullshit. You have no sources to know the status of people checking out the site, but what is absolutely certain is that they will now provide coverage to the people who lacked it. That's their design, for the working poor: People who don't qualify for Medicaid, but who don't get employer-provided insurance. They're not for anyone else. Do you even know what you're talking about?

On another note, I'm seeing that Chickie has essentially admitted surrender on actually addressing the facts and has taken to imitating me. Well, at least he knows whom to flatter, if not learn from.

chickelit said...

On another note, I'm seeing that Chickie has essentially admitted surrender on actually addressing the facts and has taken to imitating me. Well, at least he knows whom to flatter, if not learn from.

I'm just going to try to mirror your thoughts, rhetoric and opinions as best I can, perhaps injecting humor, for the duration of the shutdown

/chickie

chickelit said...

Of course I won't be able to mimic your eloquence, but that's what chirbits are for.

/chickie

test said...

AReasonableMan said...
I do not think you have proven anyone wrong


So poor thinker then, thanks for clearing that up.

You seem determined to ignore the empirical evidence

You seem to think empirical evidence proving cats like mice supports your claim that cats swim better than fish.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Chickie:

What do you think of Boehner and McConnell getting paid today, while 800,000 public servants don't? Any thoughts?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

We are already paying a fortune for healthcare in this country. The federal government currently pays out more per person than do most countries with so-called socialized medicine.

The Republicans could do a great service by making suggestions that improve performance of the system but they seem intent only on dismantling the system. Very few people want this. Their intransigence is a losing cause.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Check out what Republicans think of the health care legislation, ARM.

Go get 'em, GOP!

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Those damn low-information voters again.

chickelit said...

What do you think of Boehner and McConnell getting paid today, while 800,000 public servants don't? Any thoughts?

My thoughts are that they are paid to negotiate a compromise whenever the man in the White House come off the ledge and decides it's time to talk. So Boehner and McConnell are "on call." The zoo attendants and FLOTUS tweeters are non essential.

/chickie

chickelit said...

My guess is that POTUS gives somebody the finger before he comes down off that ledge, though.

/chickie

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

So a party that won the presidency, the senate and a million more votes in the house, that had the supreme court uphold the constitutionality of their legislation, is prevented from drawing any kind of a line across which they decide to no longer yield when it comes to attempts at throwing out their legislation?

That's legislative terrorism. It doesn't deserve any respectful response. Rethugs have had twenty years to come up with alternatives, they rejected their own suggestions when Obama implemented them, and now they come in to ruin the show.

See? That's what terrorists do. Using spectacle to take advantage of a high-stakes situation, by holding an unrelated pawn hostage to their demands. Innocent people are furloughed. The economy suffers. And you have the weakness of mind to say that those carrying out this threatening act shouldn't have to yield anything to the process that they've inflicted on others?

These people are an embarrassment. There is a reason this tactic is rejected and the party allowing it punished and held responsible, despite anyone's thoughts on the ACA and how it polls.

Unfit to lead. Republicans have had a while to negotiate over this, to prepare for it, to take the provisions seriously enough to engage them and compromise over them - and all they've done is their best to trash it, to tank it, and to use it as a club against the president whom they hate so much.

It must really suck for them to go down this badly.

chickelit said...

People were warned when Chicago came to town that things would get rough. So in the end Obama gets 99% of what he wants and Congress holds out for a 1 year delay and no opt-out for Congressional staff. Obama say "I ain't talkin' to you."

Only assholes from Chicago -- thugs -- work like that, ritmo. You know that too.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Republicans = The Denial of Coverage Party.

Congratulations. Not only do they furlough 800,000 more public servants than the 2.2 million whom they've already prevented from working, but they've now taken on the role of a Denial of Benefits Letter Writer at your HMO.

Wow. Nothing they can't do when it comes to tantruming their way to unpopularity. That's quite a low.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Oh. Chicago. That's right. We always need a new American city or state to hate on when it comes to the Nah nah, better than you! Party. It could only be Massachusetts for so long, I guess.

So other than a new city to trash in your War on America, did you have anything else to add? Surely you could tell us what kinds of wonderful and important things needed to be done with this extra year... especially given all that they've done with the last three years since it passed.

Or perhaps not.

Looks like you were really relishing writing all those Denial of Coverage letters. What a bummer.

chickelit said...

Oh. Chicago. That's right. We always need a new American city or state to hate on when it comes to the Nah nah, better than you! Party.

It's not new for me, ritmo. Chicago politics have always been corrupt -- jeez, I thought you knew that. Obama is just an extension of it.

I'll draw a distinction you're going to hate: there is a clear demarcation between Wisconsin-style "Progressive" politics which actually came from the GOP and the corrupt, urban sickness which Chicago politics typifies in the Midwest. I wish Seven Machos were here to beat my ass for that. Given my past powers of summoning (fiona) perhaps he'll show.

The sooner people realize that Obama is rooted in cronyism and corruption, the sooner the Dems can clean up their act.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Whatever.

Shorter Chickie: Cronyism = Not in bed with a huge corporation (like Republicans).

bagoh20 said...

"An employee of Minnesota’s Obamacare exchange, MNsure, sent an unencrypted file to the wrong person and left 2,400 people’s private information at the mercy of a nearby insurance agent.

One exchange staffer’s simple mistake gave insurance broker Jim Koester access to an Excel document of Social Security numbers, names, addresses and other personal data for whole a list of insurance agents. Luckily for the 2,400, Koester was cooperative — and unnerved.

“The more I thought about it, the more troubled I was,” Koester told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “What if this had fallen into the wrong hands? It’s scary. If this is happening now, how can clients of MNsure be confident their data is safe?”"


~ Hot Air

This is gonna be great. How long before a Russian gang has a couple million sets of identities. If only it could somehow be just people who think Obamacare is great idea. Unfortunately, we're all in this boat together with you guys all excited about drilling holes in the bottom. You insisted we come, even though we liked the boat we were in better.

Anonymous said...

You called?

chickelit said...

@fiona: now summon seven machos for your next miracle.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Cat got your tongue?

Oh, BTW, don't forget to hate New York, too, Chickiechanga.

chickelit said...

Looks like you were really relishing writing all those Denial of Coverage letters.

Let me know when you find someone denied treatment (besides the made-up story about the Ron Paul staffer with HIV who died alone in the street because people didn't approve of him).

chickelit said...

@Ritmo: The New York Daily News?

Seriously? And you complain about Drudge?

chickelit said...

I submit: does not ritmo's rhetoric sound exactly like Andrew Sullivan's: link to Althouse?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

At what age did you first realize your strong attraction to Andrew Sullivan, Chickie?

Does your wife know? Has she supported your search for reparative therapy?

chickelit said...

Actually, she read him first...in The Atlantic...(hardcopy, not online). But she bored with him long ago. And she was never a Palin fan which is the origin of my grudge as you well know--his unrepentant and ongoing smears.