Review: HealthCare.gov a winner despite glitches

[johnthomasmacdonald]

my main complaint with Obamacare is that it mainly supports the existing system with all of its perverse incentives ( treat illness rather than prevent it) and continues the utterly useless middleman of the insurance companies. I lived under Britain's NHS and it was vastly superior to the US system in every way imaginable . So it amazes me how crazy people have gone here over this minimal change to the system - my favorite was the guy who claimed that Obamacare was the greatest evil in US history since Slavery.

[Christine L]

[quote] Jacqueline Proctor of San Francisco and her husband are in their early 60s. They have been paying $7,200 a year for a bare-bones Kaiser Permanentehealth plan with a $5,000 per person annual deductible. “Kaiser told us the plan does not comply with Obamacare and the substitute will cost more than twice as much,” about $15,000 per year, she says. They are not eligible for subsidies.

This new plan, Kaiser’s cheapest offering for 2014, would consume about 25 percent of their after-tax income. The new plan still has a $5,000 deductible but provides coverage for things her current policy does not, such as maternity care, healthy child visits and coverage for dependents up to age 26. Proctor has no use for such coverage, since her son is 30.

Premiums are also going up for many people next year because insurers can no longer deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or impose lifetime coverage caps.[quote]

[eeckel]

As the mother of a survivor of chilfhood cancer I am grateful for Obama care. I am outraged by the abuses of big pharma. The recent article in the NY times really upset me. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/us/th ... .html?_r=0

[ems]

For the "technology-challenged", simply put your mouse pointer on the image, do a right-click and the source of the image that CG posted will be revealed. You can then use that link to get to the whole article.


Den

.

Um... no. I tried that.

[StuUnderPressure]

For the "technology-challenged", simply put your mouse pointer on the image, do a right-click and the source of the image that CG posted will be revealed. You can then use that link to get to the whole article.


Den

.

Um... no. I tried that.

It works for me.

[Wulfman...]

OK, ems, here's the link. Take out the spaces after you copy and paste it into your browser.

http : // www . conservativeblog . org/


Den

.

[Not Fade]

As the mother of a survivor of chilfhood cancer I am grateful for Obama care.

Eeckel, I have been looking at options for my wife and myself. Both of us now have individual policies. I seem to be missing something and will probably take up a local broker's offer to help me.

What specifically about Obamacare helped you or your child?

Thanks.

[ems]

OK, ems, here's the link. Take out the spaces after you copy and paste it into your browser.

http : // www . conservativeblog . org/


Den

.

Thank you... however, I don't frequent conservative sites.

[Wulfman...]

OK, ems, here's the link. Take out the spaces after you copy and paste it into your browser.

http : // www . conservativeblog . org/


Den

.

Thank you... however, I don't frequent conservative sites.

Suit yourself. I actually watch and read a broad political spectrum of channels and websites. Then I (mentally) sort through the information to decide for myself.


Den

.

[eeckel]

As the mother of a survivor of chilfhood cancer I am grateful for Obama care.

Eeckel, I have been looking at options for my wife and myself. Both of us now have individual policies. I seem to be missing something and will probably take up a local broker's offer to help me.

What specifically about Obamacare helped you or your child?

Thanks.

He couldn't get health insurance because of his medical history. He is in his late 20s, healthy and working full time. His employer does not provide benefits.

[PST]

For the "technology-challenged", simply put your mouse pointer on the image, do a right-click and the source of the image that CG posted will be revealed. You can then use that link to get to the whole article.

That works! Thanks, Den.

It also confirms my suspicion that the chart is fraudulent. Strong words, but hear me out. The chart comes from a blogger named Amy Ridenour who published it here. Here is how she explains her numbers:

According to USA Today, the Kentucky ObamaCare exchange, Kynect, had enrolled 7,000 people in insurance plans by the end of week one. By the end of week two, according to the Wall Street Journal, that total had risen to over 9,500.

The problem is, the WSJ isn't reporting at the end of week two, it is reporting part way through week two. Follow her link and you'll see. (Here's another copy not behind a paywall.) It is not precise about the date of its figure, but it introduces it with, "Kentucky said over the weekend ..." The weekend was October 12-13, less than two weeks from the day the exchange opened. I suppose that was probably the total as of Friday, the 11th.

If someone's main point is that there was a big falloff between week one and week two, it is dishonest to use a partial week's total for week two. I see this kind of thing all the time.

[49er]

For the "technology-challenged", simply put your mouse pointer on the image, do a right-click and the source of the image that CG posted will be revealed. You can then use that link to get to the whole article.

That works! Thanks, Den.

It also confirms my suspicion that the chart is fraudulent. Strong words, but hear me out. The chart comes from a blogger named Amy Ridenour who published it here. Here is how she explains her numbers:

According to USA Today, the Kentucky ObamaCare exchange, Kynect, had enrolled 7,000 people in insurance plans by the end of week one. By the end of week two, according to the Wall Street Journal, that total had risen to over 9,500.

The problem is, the WSJ isn't reporting at the end of week two, it is reporting part way through week two. Follow her link and you'll see. (Here's another copy not behind a paywall.) It is not precise about the date of its figure, but it introduces it with, "Kentucky said over the weekend ..." The weekend was October 12-13, less than two weeks from the day the exchange opened. I suppose that was probably the total as of Friday, the 11th.

If someone's main point is that there was a big falloff between week one and week two, it is dishonest to use a partial week's total for week two. I see this kind of thing all the time.

PST,

Thanks again for pointing out when statistics are used in a dishonest manner. Your diligence is greatly appreciated.

49er

[Not Fade]

As the mother of a survivor of chilfhood cancer I am grateful for Obama care.

Eeckel, I have been looking at options for my wife and myself. Both of us now have individual policies. I seem to be missing something and will probably take up a local broker's offer to help me.

What specifically about Obamacare helped you or your child?

Thanks.

He couldn't get health insurance because of his medical history. He is in his late 20s, healthy and working full time. His employer does not provide benefits.

Does he have insurance now? Where did he get the insurance? Did he use the exchange? How much does it cost him after subsidies?

Sorry for the personal questions, but I assume Eeckel is not your real name and you can reply without giving up your privacy or your son's privacy.

Thanks.

[Not Fade]

Epic Fail!




Democrat talking points: "It's only Kentucky. It's only two data points. Apple only sold 900,000 IPhones in Kentucky the first weekend."

That doesn't bode well for Obamacare considering Kentucky is said to be well ahead of all the other states with its exchange.

But time will tell. I would not expect something run by the government to be an immediate success like things done in the private market (Apple as you mention for example.). We will wait and see. (But frankly the economics don't work in Obamacare and I expect it will be miserable.)

[rkuntz123]

Delaware Celebrates: First Person Finally Enrolls in Obamacare...

Supposedly there is an article in Forbes Magazine claiming that the roll out of the ACA's Exchanges was intentionally sabotaged by it's developers to prevent people from discovering just how much more getting access to Health Insurance in these Exchanges is going to cost them. But to be honest if this claim is true I don't see any silver linings being created for the Administration by doing this.

The shockingly high rate increases that are now being documented by successful registrants will still hurt politically, regardless of when middle class voters personally learn how much more Health Insurance is directly going to cost them. It's a little early to call it Dead on Arrival but the ACA is clearly having birthing problems.

There are also rumors that the 100s of Millions of Dollars already spent on the Exchanges is 5 X the original estimate/award. Again, if true, it is to be expected from a Government that is permanently saddled with chronic cost overrun problems. Personally I expect all of the original cost estimates for the ACA to have been GROSSLY under estimated.