The new slogan: “Obamacare is more than a website”
And I agree. Much much more.
The Obamacare website is only the tip of the iceberg, although if a substantial number of healthy non-Medicaid recipients aren’t able to sign up within a reasonable amount of time it could cause what’s known in the insurance biz as a death spiral.
So here’s the line that government propagandists seem to have agreed on, from Obama on down to underling Chris Jennings, who writes in USA Today:
But it’s important to remember that the Affordable Care Act is much more than a website…The core of the law ”” health insurance ”” works just fine…The president did not fight so hard for this reform just to build a website. He did it to make health care more secure for people who have it, and more affordable and accessible for people who don’t. That’s what the Affordable Care Act does.
The spin is somewhat ludicrous; for example, in both Obama’s and Jennings’ remarks, the website problems just seem to have happened, through no agency of theirs. But absent a death spiral that will destroy the whole Obamacare endeavor almost before it begins, they are correct that what will matter is what actually happens when Obamacare gets going.
How many people will get a free or nearly-free ride at the expense of others, or at least have their premiums substantially reduced? And how many will pay through the nose, and/or more than before? Those questions depend for answers not only on the website, which will only set the premium/co-pay/deductible/subsidy prices for a small percentage of the insured, but also on the price of insurance sold through employment.
In the short run, the numbers that gain money vs. the numbers that lose money on the premium/co-pay-deductible/subsidy score will determine Obamacare’s popularity. Obama is counting on the fact that the former group will be greater than the latter group, and will vote for those nice folks who gave them this largesse. But in the long run, how will the whole operation affect jobs; the economy; taxes; future insurance premium levels; individual initiative; the amount of intrusiveness by government into people’s lives; and the number, quality, and availability of doctors and other health care professionals and the quality of care they are able to provide?
Indeed, much more than a website.
But Obama and Jennings also ignore the fact that the website itself is much more than a website. It’s a portal into a system about which they’ve been crowing for years, saying how great it will be. They’re still crowing. But as a first impression of this system, the website is not the least bit reassuring. It’s an indication to the public of how good government might be at doing this sort of thing. So far, it’s not just a failure; it’s an abysmal, mind-boggling failure of epic proportions.
So when Obama and Jennings disown the website as though they are on the outside looking in at someone else’s screw-up, and reassure us that the White House will be the ones on the white horse riding to the rescue, it’s almost laughable.
[NOTE: And speaking of the availability and quality of health care…]
Wow, I have not seen that debut album cover since the day I sold my albums over 20 years ago. I should have kept them.
Obama says , Build me a square circle. Then he heads out for the golf course. I bet he never even consulted with the people designinging this monstrosity. Can you imagine Romney running things like this?
I just thought this morning Neo. Nobody is saying this out loud that I’ve read.
But as Obama focuses so singularly on this issue (health care) international affairs will NOT be paid any attention and this is the opportune time for our enemies. And they know it.
Neo:
You said you’re looking into the law, have you found anything yet to convince me (or suggest to me) that this (ACA) is nothing more than a meaningful and purposeful attempt to destroy the US healthcare system in order to force a crisis to bring the desired single-payer system.
It also seems to be so poorly implemented that it will no doubt cause all your personal (once) private medical knowledge to be shared amongst a host of Federal and private agencies with no real oversight.
A previous manager used to draw a triangle in software design meetings. The points were labeled Fast –> Right –> Cheap. He would tell the business sponsors, “Pick two, and kiss the 3rd good-bye.” Obama is 0-3.
Sure, Obamacare is more than just a website, but the website is a good indication of how incompetent our government “betters” are/will be at taking over healthcare. If they can’t get the website right, what else have they mismanaged that we just don’t know about?
While I do think that they want it to eventually fail to usher in single-payer, I have a hard time believing that they meant to so spectacularly mess up the site. This is the highest visibility milestone of the law so far and Obama needed it as a PR tool.
momo:
I think extreme stupidity and wishful thinking could be an explanation.
Or hubris. Obama (and some of his underlings?) may just think if they will it to work, they are so smart that it must work. After all, everything they’re ever touched has turned to gold (in their eyes).
I go back and forth on this; still not decided. Isn’t it possible that Obama and company thought they could just keep raising taxes more and more and the death spiral wouldn’t happen? After all, the insurance companies would still get their money and could continue to function, if the government keeps giving people enough subsidies to pay the ever-increasing premiums. It would sort of be single payer de facto rather than de jure, with the richer people actually paying their own way and then some, and everyone else subsidized by the government, and the death spiral avoided.
I think. Don’t really know enough about how a death spiral would work to know for sure.
What I find the most mystifying is this, from the Washington Post:
And Ezra Klein makes a good point:
He also notes that while the big guys from Silicon valley coming in to help would be nice,
I truly fail to see how such a highly visible, major screw-up can be good in any way for the future of either Obamacare, or single-payer farther down the road.
I heard an interesting point made on talk radio today. If there are now going to be a lot of people who previously had insurance with moderate deductibles but under Obamacare now have $6500 deductible or more, what will happen when these people show up at the hospital for emergency treatment? Who will collect these deductibles? Most people with $60-90,000 incomes don’t have that kind of cash. This point has not been discussed much but is certainly of concern. And maybe is part of the plan…….
@expat and Neo
“I bet he never even consulted with the people designinging this monstrosity”
Two puzzling and diametrically-opposed aspects of this administration: Obama has been described as having little desire to engage in governing, but has also been described as a “control freak.”
So…he has to know about every detail, but then does nothing about them?
Once again, I’ve decided the best explanation for why this administration does anything are ego, incompetence and spite.
Oh, and in the end who cares why their policies are disasters? I’m not a mind-reader, I just want results.
When DC is given sovereignty over something as complex (thanks to previous DC interferance) and as large as 1/6 of the economy; it will be SNAFU + FUBAR + Murphy’s Law x 10E6. 10,000,000 monkeys simultaneously attempting to ^%$# a greased football are well ordered, polite, and competent compared to dimmi DC.
When you realize you don’t want or need them; you are free. Let your Gadsden Flag fly in the wind.
I believe Obama is mostly the front man. He is the salesman. It’s what he likes to do. If you look at his speeches on the ACA, it is obvious that he really does not know what’s in the law. He knows what he would like in the law. And that’s what he tells the rubes, er, ah citizens. “If you like your present healthcare plan, you can keep it. If you like your doctor, you can keep him. This plan will reduce the average family’s premiums by $2500 per year.” Sounds good, no? People who have studied the law, have been saying all along that it wasn’t true. Now we know they were right.
The fact that the website is a disaster is only the beginning. When the $50,000 – $90,000 earners find out what they are getting, (premium increases, increased deductibles, higher co-pays, and loss of their doctor – to mention the most obvious) they’re not going to be happy.
IMO, this is a huge gift to the Repubs. All they have to do is keep pointing out that they did not (no, not one of them) vote for this monstrosity and that they have pointed out many of the obvious flaws over the last three years. That their opposition to the President was not racism (as is charged by so many), but a genuine disagreement over the workability of the law. Then they need to have some answers when people ask, “What would you do differently?” The Repubs also need to point out at every opportunity that they need more Rs in the Senate and the House in order to make changes.
Will they do it? Let us pray so.
J.J. formerly Jimmy J., 11:31 pm — “IMO, this is a huge gift to the Repubs.”
And they’re *exactly* the ones to squander it.
(based on long, frustrating experience)
Re: your Note (the link therein) — I read a comment online, take it for what it’s worth, that the commenter had managed to get through to the Maryland exchange, and found the Providers’ List for the Bronze plan enrollees: there was 1 ob-gyn for the entire state who would accept it.
One.
This is going to raise hob with everyone’s provider access, no matter what “tier” you’re on. What a MESS.
Also, the programmers are saying that the only way the system works is via the computer-engine. It is the sine qua non of the System, so saying it’s “not” the system doesn’t make a bit of difference, really.
AJ Strata at “Strata-Sphere.com” has several recent articles about the layers of snafus and mis-design of the Healthcare.gov website. (see Oct 15 and later posts)
He says, “This is basically what I do in my day job. I come into troubled, large federal programs that are heavy on distributed computers {…} and I uncover where the programs are malfunctioning.”
Short version: he’s thinking *MONTHS* to get this mess anywhere near ready-for-prime-time.
Strata is actually making the case that it will take YEARS for the code to run.
The problem is that the hub is expected to sync databases that are HUGE and ancient and structured entirely differently — and which have huge gaps in data content.
The brainiacs assumed that data bandwith would never be an issue. But the structure of the profile build-up REQUIRES timely data passage — or the system locks up. Even tera-bytes of DRAM are not enough buffer to handle the cross flow.
So, the situation is way beyond software. The hub and its daughter databases need fantastic increases in bandwith and faster data responses to queries.
NASA will get to Pluto before this is coded out.
The hub and its daughter databases need fantastic increases in bandwith and faster data responses to queries.
Meanwhile, Democrat hackers will be getting identity theft rich and pooling the information for later black mail potential. Come the Day.
They won’t need to hack the Obamacare Hub – any organization that provides Plan Navigator serbices will have access to it, and just look at the types of organizations that have been selected for that responsibility:ACORN & La Raza. Yeah, they won’t misuse all of that personal data for voter fraud or identity theft. Sure.
Of course they won’t. They are holy warriors for Leftist Utopia, just like Islamic hordes wouldn’t rape or kill children for jihad.
Looking at the reviews for this guy’s book, the name of it reminds me of a special report a particular group of capitalist inner circle people were putting on their mailing list.
That’s actually a boost for his credibility in my eyes.
Oops, wrong thread.
Reference to this. http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Obama-Survival-Guide-Obamageddon/dp/1621570916/
Don’t forget to use Neo’s search function to buy it instead of the normal site.