Healthcare Exchange Sites Glitchy.. BIG DEAL!

We're only about 3 weeks into a 24 week sign up period.

Can't sign up on line?
No sweat Here's 7 other ways to sign up




In 14 states where they cooperated with the ACA by setting up their own enrollment sites this isn't a problem. The main problems are in the 36 states that have opposed the ACA and haven't set up their own software. Those are states where the federal government was forced to create the software for them. Keep in mind the complexity involved here when someone has to make software work in 36 states each somewhat different from the other. The 4 levels of coverage are only the beginning. In some states there are dozens of companies offering dozens of different plans in each. When your trying to develop software that accounts for hundreds of different options, it's no simple matter.

There a couple of other things going on here. When the 'Affordable Care Act' (ACA) was being legislated in congress, certain members did everything in their power to louse it up by making it far more complex then it needed to be. Since that time a couple of states said they'd do anything they could to make it difficult for people trying to sign up.

Initially what supporters of healthcare reform really wanted to do was expand Medicare. Medicare already has the people and excellent software in place for decades. Medicare also doesn't have these $4k-6k deductibles. The initial idea was to lower the age requirements lower and lower over time. By gradually phasing in younger contributors this would have allowed for younger healthier people to join up. In essence making it financially stable.

While it is true that Medicare is a government run program, it contracts out most of it's services to insurance companies to administer. Medicare would have still allowed insurance companies to profit by offering supplemental plans of all sorts.

So Why Didn't We?
Because there are certain rightwing members in congress that blocked it 100%. Even mentioning expanding Medicare was so taboo it couldn't have possibly made it out of committee. Think for a moment how smooth the transition could have been.

Now Let's Talk About Glitchy Software
Just today 'Facebook' was locked up for hours. Microsoft pulled it's first update for Windows 8 after it crashed computers. iPhone 5s users reported they had 'Blue Screen Of Death' crashes. In September Google experienced a 11 hour Gmail interruption.. Also in September Apple's online store went down ahead of iPhone 5c preorders. Even Windows updates can cause crashes after updating.

I've given you several examples of the problems even the most well tested software by long established huge companies can encounter. This is not to make excuses, but realistically speaking, there is no programming expert in the world who can guarantee new software will be 100% on it's initial roll out. Had we simply expanded Medicare none of this would have been a problem. The software was in place. The people were in place. The supplemental plans were already in place. The printed material is already available. Everyone already knows exactly what Medicare will pay for and how much.

The only reason ACA has become a mess is because Republicans hated on Medicare since day 1.

1961- Ronald Reagan
"Medicare Will Bring A Socialist Dictatorship"

Sound familiar?
Same Crap... Different Day!

I'm convinced the United States will never see, at the end of the day, what 58 other countries already have. Why not and which political party is standing in the way? Even a better question could be asked, what are the motives behind one political party being against it? Is it because of sincere ideological differences or is it really about one being more centered on their own financial gains then the other?