Obamacare / Affordable Care Act : classic or dud?

Anyone who's ever done a widespread implementation across multiple systems with competitive constituencies knew that this shitshow was going to happen. Nobody does this well--not Amazon, not Facebook, not Snapchat, not Obama, not anyone. Anyone remember this? And yet the planes keep flying.

The failure rate of big government IT projects is mind-croggingly huge. Just off the top of my head there's:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Case_File
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/06/how-to-blow-6-billion-on-a-tech-project/
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/10/why-us-government-it-fails-so-hard-so-often/

Shocked that any of this works...

To be clear: the ACA website was created by a private company.

Most of these sites are created by a private corp.

they're talking about death panels again so I guess the website is almost fixed

can't wait to be put to death by a death panel frankly

take heart. the audit will end someday.

been reading a lot of gleeful columns by byron york lately, heavily slanted and piling-on about the aca's inherent, fatal failures, and how it will doom not only the act, but poison the public against the notion of big gov't programs overall. so it was good to go back and re-read this exchange, in 2008, between york and matt taibbi.

Got three e-mails this morning from the "Health Insurance Marketplace." They've got a logo and everything. My account has been created, they've confirmed my subscription change, I've apparently signed up for e-mail updates, and I can join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.

Either the real ACA outreach is in even more disarray than advertised, or the grifters are doing just fine.

so now too many people are signing up?

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/12/03/us-usa-healthcare-idINBRE9AR05M20131203

uh oh, we'd better cut taxes, and eliminate long term unemployment insurance

I checked out the plans and punched in our income and discovered that I don't qualify for any kind of subsidy, so whether or not I sign up this december or sign up maybe next fall seemed less urgent. The tax penalty in year one of ACA is low, so it isn't a big incentive, yet.

Margaret Talbot's experiences.

haha somehow amongst all the migrating of old plans to new plans, my company incorrectly changed the addresses of 2.3 million customers, nice work applause all around

hey play fair ALEC!

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2013/12/obamacare_california_gop_website.php

ratfucking!

Gallup: Majority of Americans Want Major Changes to Health Law

social security for all

i should probably stop dragging my feet on this

commie!

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/rubio-enrolls-in-obamacare-takes-federal-subsidy/2156529

Lie of the Year non-shockah

Oh dear

uh oh: "industry groups give up on lobbying for medicaid expansion"

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/obamacare-medicaid-expansion-lobbying-2015

"What I'm really struggling with is -- I don't even know how to talk about expanding Medicaid without just pissing Republicans the hell off and making them think I'm part of the problem," said a top official for one of the industry groups, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about the political reality in their state and avoid upsetting the chances of expansion in the long term.

I think these expansions will eventually happen because the amount of free money being left on the table is just too huge to ignore forever, but it may end up taking years.

I don't even know how to talk about expanding Medicaid without just pissing Republicans the hell off and making them think I'm part of the problem," said a top official for one of the industry groups, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about the political reality in their state and avoid upsetting the chances of expansion in the long term.

profile in courage

One of the basic tenets of Obamacare is that the government will help lower-income Americans -- anyone making less than about $45,900 a year -- pay for the health insurance everyone is now mandated to have.
But a CNN analysis shows that in the largest city in nearly every state, many low-income younger Americans won't get any subsidy at all. Administration officials said the reason so many Americans won't receive a subsidy is that the cost of insurance is lower than the government initially expected. Subsidies are calculated using a complicated formula based on the cost of insurance premiums, which can vary drastically from state to state, and even county to county.

this is now me, because I make a bit more money but well under that limit. No subsidy and the cheapest silver plan is $244 (cheapest bronze $180).

I'd continue to say fuck it rather than pay 10% of my income to insurance I likely won't use but I really want to take up Brazilian jiu-jitsu and I can't be comfortable doing that without insurance.

straining my empathy to feel bad for someone complaining about health ins costs but can do cool stuff like jiu-jitsu and gun buying.

that legendary american empathy

straining my empathy to feel bad for someone complaining about health ins costs but can do cool stuff like jiu-jitsu and gun buying.

― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Thursday, December 26, 2013 6:25 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah this is right on everyone should have to pour money into bullshit instead of spending their time doing stuff

totally with you on the ilx.xls mandatory background check for gun owners but otherwise i mean

i could be deluding myself, but i feel like the hysterical reaction about obamacare's rollout and early impact has died-down some, at least judging from the twitter feeds of some conservative "advocacy-journalists" i follow (e.g., byron york, who's begun to find time for other topics).

xxp I know, right? If your hobbies are playing with firearms and getting kicked in the face, who has time for nonsense like health insurance? Someone else will pay for that if it comes up.

I mean, I get the vibe that Milo's the ilxor most likely to own nunchuks but begrudging jiu jitsu is basically the same as all those bullshit "I saw a POOR PERSON WITH AN IPHONE" Facebook things ppl repost

Someone else will pay for that if it comes up.

someone else paying for it is awesome; everybody else paying for the healthcare of people who need it is how healthcare can work

i am reared on socialised medicine so i can just leave if it's gonna make people awkward

i could be deluding myself, but i feel like the hysterical reaction about obamacare's rollout and early impact has died-down some, at least judging from the twitter feeds of some conservative "advocacy-journalists" i follow (e.g., byron york, who's begun to find time for other topics).

― Daniel, Esq 2, Thursday, December 26, 2013 10:51 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's kind of strange, no one really talks about it at all anymore in the MSM. I'm sure there's all sorts of speculation about FEMA camps or something on the Blaze tho.

I guess the Duck Dynasty thing really sucked up a lot of the oxygen

Man, Granny, the gun control threads were all over a year ago, you can let it go.

fyi, I want to try jiu jitsu because I'm getting older and want to remember what it was like being even a little bit athletic. No depth perception so rec league basketball lost out.

if only obamacare covered vision

Someone else will pay for that if it comes up.

someone else paying for it is awesome; everybody else paying for the healthcare of people who need it is how healthcare can work

― mustread guy (schlump), Thursday, December 26, 2013 6:18 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yes, well, until we have that, that is most emphatically not how it works.

yeah this is right on everyone should have to pour money into bullshit instead of spending their time doing stuff

I mean, I get the vibe that Milo's the ilxor most likely to own nunchuks but begrudging jiu jitsu is basically the same as all those bullshit "I saw a POOR PERSON WITH AN IPHONE" Facebook things ppl repost

This is not where I was coming from but, being ILX, I knew people would assume it was.
If you think buying health insurance is pouring money into bullshit then I really don't know what to tell ya.
If you're complaining about having to spend 10% of your income to guard yourself from possible financial and physical ruin then I really don't know what to tell ya. Being an adult has financial responsibilities - rent, food, healthcare being the big 3 - and whining about having to meet those (non-fun) responsibilities is what Milo and many others seem to be doing wrt Obamacare.

I enjoy (intense sarcasm) listening to people explain how they have lifestyles that make them not really need insurance, making it a rip-off for them.

that legendary american empathy

― ogmor, Thursday, December 26, 2013 3:33 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The main issue is that my empathy lies with people who desperately needed coverage but couldn't get it pre-ACA, not with people who have to buy coverage (something they should do anyway) so it's feasible that those uninsured can obtain coverage. Everyone makes this about them, how they're affected by the law.

Everyone makes this about them, how they're affected by the law.

Nah, for real?

yep you're not alone in your self-centeredness

I mean, yeah, as someone who doesn't use medical care on anything resembling a regular basis (pretty sure I haven't been to a doctor in 8 months), it is kind of a big deal that the government wants to push me into writing a check for 10% of my real-world money every month to a for-profit corporation. Well, I guess I could just shovel 8% of my money into a plan that's utterly useless outside of a major tragedy (which would, of course, fuck me anyway).

I'm not sure why you'd be surprised that people like me are hesistant to cheer for Obamacare. No one likes tithing a large percentage of income to something where they perceive little benefit, particularly when other options (single-payer) exist and work in the rest of the civilized world.

This is separate from my current process of looking - if I start engaging in a contact sport, yes, I'm a moron if I don't have insurance. That's why I'm looking. Doesn't make the costs - which are, for the record, significantly higher plan-to-plan vs what I was looking at 18 months ago - more palatable.

Then just pay the fine and stfu

I'm glad my grandma was never so whiny.

I'm not sure why you'd be surprised that people like me are hesistant to cheer for Obamacare.

Nice phrasing. They are outright against it, many based purely on the financial consequence it has for them personally. (I can guarantee you ACA has a more severe--financial and otherwise--on me than it does on you)

I'm with you that their are better options in rest of the world. This "fix" is shit.

you're saying that *I'm* the one whining here? Good grief

xp -
So, basically, you're being a twat because some other people are libertarians, even though I'm not.

Coo'.

as someone who doesn't use medical care on anything resembling a regular basis (pretty sure I haven't been to a doctor in 8 months)

this is why it's called "insurance"