Costs of ObamaCare bungles start to add up, with Maryland first at about $30.5M

Maryland could end up spending as much as $30.5 million as a result of a glitch in its ObamaCare website, as the Obama administration steps in to help states with problematic exchanges.

Because of Maryland’s defective exchange, the state cannot determine whether customers remain eligible for Medicaid, according to a report by state budget analysts released Thursday.

As a result, the state has agreed with the federal government to a six-month delay in determining eligibility, meaning that payments will continue to be made to customers who are not eligible until the system is fixed. The delay will cost the state $17.8 million in fiscal 2014 and $12.7 million in fiscal 2015, the analysts estimated.

On Friday, the Obama administration said it would suspend some Affordable Care Act rules to help the 14 states with their own ObamaCare sites, particularly Maryland, Massachusetts, Hawaii and Oregon, which have had the most problems.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plan, completed a day earlier, states the federal government will help pay for “qualified” health-insurance plans for customers in those states who because of “exceptional circumstances” had to buy plans outside of ObamaCare exchanges, as reported first by The Washington Post.

Via: Fox News Politics

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Boehner tries signing up for health care...but can't BY DAVID LIGHTMAN

No surprise here....House Speaker John Boehner tried to access the Affordable Care Act web site and got nowhere.

"After putting in my personal information, I received an error message," he said after trying to access the Washington, D.C. exchange.

"I was able to work past that," Boehner added, "but when I went to actually sign up for coverage, I got this 'internal server error' screen."

He couldn't get any further, and he's now got a call into the help desk.

"Guess I'll just have to keep trying," Boehner said.

Via: McClatchyDC

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Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/21/209338/boehner-tries-signing-up-for-health.html#storylink=cpy

Only 'hundreds' enroll in Illinois exchange

Only hundreds of people enrolled in the Illinois health insurance exchange in October, state officials said today, offering the first glimpse into an online marketplace that has been vexed by glitches.

Insurance carriers have told state officials that hundreds of consumers signed up in October, confirmed Jennifer Koehler, director of the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace. But she and Cristal Thomas, Illinois deputy governor, cautioned that it was just a guess since federal officials haven't yet provided enrollment figures.

“We do not know,” Ms. Thomas said. “If we have to guess we would guess probably in the hundreds.”

Before the launch, Illinois officials predicted that about 486,000 individuals and small business in Illinois would buy health insurance in 2014 on the exchange, a key part of the Affordable Care Act to tamp down rising health care costs.

The state officials and Michael Gelder, senior health policy adviser to Gov. Pat Quinn, briefed reporters today about the exchange at a fellowship in Chicago held by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

The news isn’t much better elsewhere around the country. Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Chuck Grassley of Iowa released figures today that indicated just a handful of people in Washington, D.C. had enrolled for plans from two carriers as of the end of October. Two other carriers had not enrolled anyone, they said.

"With data from D.C.'s four participating health plans in, there's been a whopping five people enrolled in the city's exchange," Mr. Hatch said, according to a statement. "That's right, five. Whether it's significant problems with the website, people being forced off the coverage they had or skyrocketing costs, these numbers are even more proof of what a disaster Obamacare is and why it should be delayed."

Via: Chicago Health Care Daily

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[VIDEO] ObamaCare Navigator Hasn’t Signed Up Anyone Because It’s Too Expensive

Home  »  Obamacare  »  ObamaCare Navigator Hasn’t Signed Up Anyone Because It’s Too Expensive

Oct 31, 2013 0 Comments Jack Flash

Via: Pat Dollard

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RNC RESEARCH: What Volume Issues? These Volume Issues

Today, CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner Claimed That The Administration Was Not Aware Of The Volume Issues That Would Arise After The Launch Of The Website. REED:  “You’ve demonstrated to me in that relationship and those prior dealings a very high level of competence. I’ve been listening to your testimony today. And I really want to focus on my oversight responsibilities on this Committee. You had indicated to Mr. Buchanan, Ms. Tavenner, that you were not aware prior to October 1st, of any problems with the website. Did I misinterpret your response to Mr. Buchanan’s question?” TAVENNER:  “No, we had tested the website and we were comfortable with its performance. Now, like I said, we knew all along there would be as with any new website, some individual glitches we would have to work out. The volume issue and the creation of account issues was not anticipated and obviously took us by surprise. And did not show up in testing.” (Marilyn Tavenner, Ways And Means, U.S. House Of Representatives, Hearing, 10/29/13)

But An Internal Launch Test The Day Before Its Debut, The Obamacare Site Crashed With Just A Few Hundred People Logging On

An Internal Test Of The ObamaCare Website “Crashed After A Simulation In Which Just A Few Hundred People Tried To Long On Simultaneously.” “Days before the launch of President Obama’s online health ­insurance marketplace, government officials and contractors tested a key part of the Web site to see whether it could handle tens of thousands of consumers at the same time. It crashed after a simulation in which just a few hundred people tried to log on simultaneously.” (Lena H. Sun and Scott Wilson, “Health Insurance Exchange Launched Despite Signs Of Serious Problems,” The Washington Post, 10/22/13)

• The ObamaCare Site “Locked Up Shortly After Midnight.” “When the Web site went live Oct. 1, it locked up shortly after midnight as about 2,000 users attempted to complete the first step, according to two people familiar with the project.” (Lena H. Sun and Scott Wilson, “Health Insurance Exchange Launched Despite Signs Of Serious Problems,” The Washington Post, 10/22/13)

“Despite The Failed Test, Federal Health Officials Plowed Ahead.” (Lena H. Sun and Scott Wilson, “Health Insurance Exchange Launched Despite Signs Of Serious Problems,”The Washington Post, 10/22/13)

• According To A Person Working On The Exchange, “We Named It The Tyranny Of The October 1 Date.” “People working on the project knew that Oct. 1 was set in stone as a launch date. ‘We named it the tyranny of the October 1 date,’ said a person close to the project.” (Lena H. Sun and Scott Wilson, “Health Insurance Exchange Launched Despite Signs Of Serious Problems,” The Washington Post, 10/22/13)

The Launch “Was So Rushed … The Exchange’s Computer Code Contained Placeholder Language That Programmers Typically Used In Preliminary Drafts.” “The introduction was so rushed that, as recently as last week, the exchange’s computer code contained placeholder language that programmers typically use in preliminary drafts, said Clay Johnson, a former White House presidential innovation fellow during 2012-2013.” (Mike Dorning, Alex Wayne, And Kathleen Miller, “ObamaCare Crashes Months In Coming Not Easily Repaired,” Bloomberg, 10/22/13)

• “It Was A Perfect Storm For An IT Meltdown.” “‘It was a perfect storm for an IT meltdown,’ said John Gorman, a former assistant to the director of the Health Care Financing Administration’s Office of Managed Care, the predecessor to the agency responsible, now known as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS.” (Mike Dorning, Alex Wayne, And Kathleen Miller, “ObamaCare Crashes Months In Coming Not Easily Repaired,” Bloomberg, 10/22/13)

Via: GOP.com

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Health exchange website crashes during road tour

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - A mobile enrollment tour for the state's new health exchange hit a speed bump in Olympia when its website went down.

The Washington Healthplanfinder site went down sometime Sunday morning, preventing visitors at the Olympia Farmers Market from enrolling for insurance aboard the trailer that was outfitted with about 20 laptops.

About 50 people showed up, either to get information, start the application process or schedule an appointment to do so, says Bethany Frey, a spokeswoman for the Washington Health Benefit Exchange.

It's not the first time the site has had problems, starting with the first week the exchange went online. And last week, staff discovered and corrected tax-credit miscalculations.

The mobile tour began Oct. 16 in Spokane and will end Nov. 12 on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington. About 35,000 Washington residents have signed up for insurance through the exchange since it opened on Oct. 1.

Via: KOMO News
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Editorial: Why Obamacare is a mess

And this from the liberal Chicago Tribune.  Home town turns on ObamaCare.

If you've tried to sign up online for health coverage under the problem-plagued Obamacare exchange, our sympathies. Many people have tried to create accounts and shop for insurance under the new law. Few have succeeded. Those that have enrolled have found that the system is prone to mistakes. Some applications have been sent to the wrong insurance company.

Wait. It gets worse. Those who have managed to browse the marketplace have often been hit by sticker shock. Take Adam Weldzius, a nurse practitioner and single father from Carpentersville. He sought the same level of coverage on the exchange as he and his 7-year-old daughter have now, with the same insurer and the same network of doctors and hospitals. At best, Weldzius found, his monthly premium of $233 would more than double. If he chose a plan priced at the same level, the annual deductible would be $12,700, more than three times his current $3,500 deductible.

"I believe everybody should be able to have health insurance, but at the same time, I'm being penalized. And for what?" Weldzius told the Tribune's Peter Frost. "For someone who's always had insurance, who's always taken care of myself, now I have to change my plan?"

Last spring, President Barack Obama said "there will still be, you know, glitches and bumps" in the rollout of the new system. But what we're seeing now is no glitch or bump. There is a growing mountain of evidence that Obamacare has fundamental problems in design and implementation.

Via: Chicago Tribune

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