The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Obamacare’s Online Price Comparison Site
1st October 2013
It’s a nice theory, but crippling IT glitches, political roadblocks, and sneaky insurance options may throw a wrench in the President’s plans.
Assuming that the President actually has a plan, which appears questionable.
Prepare yourself to be shocked: a massive government IT project is experiencing glitches. Technical problems will prevent both small businesses and the fine citizens of Washington D.C. from signup on the Tuesday launch.
Government workers aren’t in the business of providing services to the public. They’re in the business of hiring and paying government workers.
Part of the problem is that the insurance exchanges are being run by the States themselves, unlike the airline industry which releases prices to the public, so that comparison websites can develop their own systems. I reached out to the HHS last week to understand why the government decided to handle this completely on their own and have yet to receive a response.
My, what a surprise! Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised.
Perhaps more strange, the White House is turned into a mini version of Tiger Beat magazine to attract young invincibles. “Thanks for spreading the word. #ROAR,” Prezi O-B tweeted his BFF, Katy Perry, thanking her for spreading the word about the new healthcare exchange.
Nothing strange about it. The President has treated his administration as if it were a high-school football game from day one. It’s all he knows. I keep expecting him to dust off all of those old Jerry Ford ‘WIN: Whip Inflation Now’ buttons any minute now.
While Obamacare mandates coverage, it doesn’t mean that youngins will sign up in a timely manner or choose not to pay the fine ($95 or 1% of their income, whichever is bigger). Currently, 26.5% of 18-34-year-olds are uninsured. In order to bring down costs overall, Obamacare is betting on healthy young citizens to subsidize the costs of their elders.
Yeah, good luck with that. Young people make a lot of politically correct noise, but when it comes to spending their actual money, they’re just as selfish as grown-ups.
There’s also politics. Several Repubican-run states have flat-out refused to cooperate with Obamacare implementation and help inform consumers, all while the House of Representatives has voted (unsuccessfully) 40 times to repeal or defund the measure.
Yeah, isn’t that whole democracy thing incredibly tedious? It keeps getting in the way of our Cool Progressive Programs, the ones that cost a mint and deliver shit.
…ultimately it all depends on your faith in a government-regulated free market and the ability of semi-educated consumers to make the smart choice.
And if that doesn’t scare you, you haven’t been paying attention. (Hint: If it’s ‘government-regulated’, it’s not a free market. Funny how many supposedly smart people can’t see that fundamental fact.)