Does anyone else see the Obamacare website as the massive end-of-the-world catastrophe the media paints it? Honestly, I see it as a minor inconvenience (operating on the assumption the law can’t require me to meet a deadline they themselves can’t meet.) My brothers were programmers and developers, there were always problems with big rollouts. (That’s where the term “vaporware” applies.)
Sure, Obama fucked up. No question. If you read that “Locked in the cabinet” post from yesterday, you read the part where the White House political team delayed important implementation decisions until after the election.
But it will all eventually get fixed, we will eventually get insurance coverage and hopefully it will all work out. Then we will vote out as many of the assholes as we can and start pushing for single payer.
Am I crazy?
No, not crazy.
This is really not about a website. The right wing Clintonites for political reasons and in an obvious act of desperation have begun to openly undermine the ACA and Obama. Because Hillary’s carefully laid plans to gain the WH in 2016 are unraveling. Unfortunately these conservative Democrats have declared war on the Left as well. The Left will carry on with its protracted guerrilla war with the fascist Right (1%). Being forced to fight a bloody civil war with the conservative Democrats is nothing new for the Left. Rest assured that the Left is up to the task of simultaneously battling both the Republican and Democratic Right and prevailing. This is all about ideology.
Susie,
Of course it’s a made up shit storm! Remember, this “You can keep..” fiasco only affects a few percent of crappy exsisting plans. But in this day and age, impressions are the only thing that matters. Cokie Roberts was psychic when she famously said “Who cares if it’s true, it’s out there.” When Medicare Part D Bush’s came out it had as many screwups but there wasn’t an opposition party doing EVERTHING it could to halt it or make it look bad.
If a clunkiy website is the biggest problem with Obamacare, how is that a scandal? That’s called, ‘How the Intertubes work.’ If it worked perfectly, Rethugs would complain that the background is blue, not red – Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi!!1!!
The people who comment on SuburbanGuerrilla.org are far to rational to be living in the USA. Or anywhere else on earth. Off we go……..
The website problem is serious because it covers the fact that Upton is pissing in the well. If the ACA product can be misrepresented without an easy rebuttal point, these non-compliant plans will capture the healthy and leave the pool toxic. The same Republicans who advertised that young folks should refuse to enroll will now be shilling this “cheap” insurance as a market driven solution knowing that the plan program is going to hemorrhage losses while the non-participating plans price gouge faux insurance free of rate caps. The objective is to bankrupt the ACA or bury it under explosive increases in 2015. If the registration lags continue and insurers withdraw from the exchanges as a result because the numbers won’t work, the ACA could still unwind in the first quarter next year. The headlines are sensational because the media are tabloid junk. The problem is real and the fix could be fatal. I don’t see how any of this brings single payer closer. My greater fear is that the problems level out and the Republicans start to sell the ACA as a Medicare fix.
I have to agree with Iless. If the web site was the only problem, sure, it would get fixed. The bigger problem is ACA itself. A Kaiser Family Foundation exec said it best: it’s very good catastrophic health insurance. It’s miles away from being real insurance, the kind that actually pays noticeable amounts toward your medical expenses (unless you’re very close to Medicaid territory). Another point in its favor is the expansion of Medicaid. That’s a big deal, and a crime against humanity by those Repub govs who blocked it.
Once the size of the deductibles, co-pays, lack of caps on balance billing for out-of network providers, the extreme narrowness of what is in-network, etc., etc., etc, once all that starts appearing in the general consciousness, people will really get angry. They were told they’d get “good” insurance, and they’re getting something more like catastrophic. The web site issues will start looking like a nice problem to have.
As for it making everyone stampede to single payer: I wish. It’s a long shot — much likelier I think is that voters vote for The Other Guy, i.e. Repubs next time — but who knows.