It's Here. ACA.

[werepossum]

Day 4 and still haven't been able to select a plan. Today it's back to being unable to even log in. I work at home and have been trying continually, keeping a widow open on my second monitor. I have managed to complete the initial eligibility app but have yet to be able to see the response. Trying to open it for the last two days has just resulted in an error after a couple of minutes waiting for the page to load.

The wait to attempt to log in is much shorter now, but that's rather pointless when the site still doesn't work. They really need to lower the number of people allowed on the site by the load limiter so that it actually functions for those who get in. If people could actually complete the process that would naturally lower the load.

That's a good point.

Government has been lying about his since the start. The websites were down becaues of huge traffic!!!! Turns out the websites were down and there wasn't huge traffic, 1/10th of the initial reports in some cases. But when websites fail, and the key when you are infallible, then it can't be for any other reason that the websites were down because of huge demand.

Kicker is that less than 1% (0.59%) of those visitors which are 1/10th the number of what government was reporting are signing up for Obamacare.

This is a success though, if for only that government can not admit failure. Makes it hard to stop failing with this mindset. But government has been on this route for 3 decades. Whether you realize the tax code is a sham that benefits the wealthy greatly or that Obamacare is an unfordable mess, the fail is aplenty for both sides of the political divide on a number of important policy measures. Because each side is infallible, each side remains rigid in their ideology.

Nation and real people end up suffering for the hubris.

Good post.

 

[ZaneNBK]

How long has the Blue Cross website been up versus the new government ones?

Too bad they don't have three months to work out any initial issues.

I've never had an issue using the Blue Cross site. It loads fast and works for me. I have accounts there for both my insurance and my wife's and have used them both without problems.

Healthcare.gov doesn't have 3 months to fix issues, they have until December 15th, the cutoff date for getting insurance by Jan 1st, which is when I and many others need it. So they have a little over 2 months. Still, that should be plenty of time to fix it.

However, four days should have been plenty of time for them to do simple fixes like limiting the number of allowed concurrent users to a number low enough that the site actually functions for those who wait long enough to log in. That should have been done in the first few hours.

 

[First]

You must have a 396SX or 486 computer w/VGA adapter and dialup modem.

Loads for me in a few seconds on my Mac Mini (Late 2010 model)

Main

http://www.bcbs.com/

Illinois

http://www.bcbsil.com/

Blue Shield's CA web site is consistently shitty, a well known fact for people like myself who use it frequently. Claims will show up one moment and literally not the next.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Blue Shield's CA web site is consistently shitty, a well known fact for people like myself who use it frequently. Claims will show up one moment and literally not the next.

I guess I have a charmed life as I've never had an issue with my dealings with BCBS or their website. Aetna on the other hand dealing with them was a PITA.

 

[ZaneNBK]

Finally got some pricing info for my area. The cheapest gold plan is about $30 more than my current plan. My current plan has about the same coverage except that it doesn't cover prescriptions, so that's about a tie. However, the high end of gold is about $230 more per month, which would almost be double. There are zero platinum plans available.

I find it amusing that the "gold" tier is about equal to the average medical plan offered at every company I've worked for in the last 20 years, and I have worked at several. However, I'm a developer so it's always been an office environment and most of the companies were fortune 500, so it's probably not the norm for most people. It is probably the norm for most office workers though.

Here's some basic cost info for plans available to me:

 

[cyclohexane]

Blue Shield's CA web site is consistently shitty, a well known fact for people like myself who use it frequently. Claims will show up one moment and literally not the next.

BlueCross website in Georgia is even worse. Information is purposefully hidden behind a crapton of buried links - all the while showing you stock photos of "healthy living".

My plan with them, however, has been pretty good.

 

[First]

BlueCross website in Georgia is even worse. Information is purposefully hidden behind a crapton of buried links - all the while showing you stock photos of "healthy living".

My plan with them, however, has been pretty good.

Yeah absolutely, that annoys the hell out of me.

But yes, my plan with them is quite good as well.

 

[ericlp]

I would take kaiser over any of those plans ANY DAY. Blue Cross Blue Shield sucked when I had it. Everything cost a lot of $$.

 

[dmens]

Got a letter today saying my CIGNA high deductible plan is cancelled, and the closest replacement costs at least twice as much, depending if I take some bullshit health coaching course.

Thanks Obama!

 

[umbrella39]

 

[raildogg]

Got a letter today saying my CIGNA high deductible plan is cancelled, and the closest replacement costs at least twice as much, depending if I take some bullshit health coaching course.

Thanks Obama!

Yes, many high deductible plans, such as the HSA ones, are no longer offered in 2014. If you had your plan before May 2010, then you're OK. If you signed up for your current plan after this date, then it no longer will be offered in 2014 and you will have to pick a new one.

 

[PrinceofWands]

I could just rub this into those anti Obama folks noses. But...
Seriously, there are A LOT of Americans and American families
that have been soooo waiting for this day.

And consider the concept. Please.
Healthcare not necessarily employer based.
Imagine, everyone with the freedom and availability to, simply,
go online and obtain healthcare for you and or your family.

Shop online for the best policy AND price, just like you do for computer hardware.

Sure, maybe ACA (i.e. Obamacare) will have bumps in the road as the ACA law proceeds.
But in all reality, does not this concept of having healthcare non employment based look truly appealing?
You no longer would have to stay in a job you dislike, simply for the employer healthcare.
Especially if one of your family member had an ongoing costly medically condition.

Is this ACA concept not the correct way for a free society to follow? Concept.
And the challenge should be NOT to fight against this new concept, but work to advance the concept making it ever better.

This is Anandtech. The forum all about talking the best hardware/software.
Shopping for the best hardware/software. Where. When. How. Price. Functionality.
From mobile phones to Microsoft to computers, we love the concept of shopping and discussing, and learning. The ease of it.

Healthcare could work just the same way.
ACA is just the beginning of such a concept.
Don't let the concept of something new scare you away.
Just consider the freedoms of such a concept.

(there. thats my little speech )

If it was "HEALTH CARE", and not 'health insurance', I would be ok with it. Socialize it, nationalize it, regulate it...I don't care what you do, but don't do insurance. That's the CAUSE of high prices (well, one of them), not the solution.

 

[dmens]

Yes, many high deductible plans, such as the HSA ones, are no longer offered in 2014. If you had your plan before May 2010, then you're OK. If you signed up for your current plan after this date, then it no longer will be offered in 2014 and you will have to pick a new one.

Had mine since 2005, still no good.

 

[raildogg]

Had mine since 2005, still no good.

That is strange. I thought if it was grandfathered then you are allowed to keep it. I'm sorry that has happened to you. You're not the only one. Have you shopped plans yet and found something cheaper/better? My insurance company's website has been acting weird for the past week or so.

 

[dmens]

That is strange. I thought if it was grandfathered then you are allowed to keep it. I'm sorry that has happened to you. You're not the only one. Have you shopped plans yet and found something cheaper/better? My insurance company's website has been acting weird for the past week or so.

CIGNA and Kaiser are sending their people over to explain the New Deal to us, I picked up some pamphlets and every single plan is more expensive than before. There is literally not a single equivalent plan that is cheaper.

On top of that the $250 discount for taking a blood test and sticking with an exercise plan is gone, so that's another pound of flesh for the ACA monster.

 

[raildogg]

CIGNA and Kaiser are sending their people over to explain the New Deal to us, I picked up some pamphlets and every single plan is more expensive than before. There is literally not a single equivalent plan that is cheaper.

On top of that the $250 discount for taking a blood test and sticking with an exercise plan is gone, so that's another pound of flesh for the ACA monster.

The plan my insurance company offered me, with a $500 higher deductible, costs 3.3x more than my current plan. It seems like certain groups of people have to pick up the burden.

 

[waggy]

. It seems like certain groups of people have to pick up the burden.

well fucking duh. ACA is idiotic. It is a gamble in that it demands that young healthy kids pay into it every month. not many have yet. so prices are going to be high.

even then we are giving EVERYONE insurance. they have no choice. it seems to me a great time ot raise rates and reduce coverage.

over all t his is a clusterfuck. the idea is great the implementation sucks ass

 

[shady28]

well fucking duh. ACA is idiotic. It is a gamble in that it demands that young healthy kids pay into it every month. not many have yet. so prices are going to be high.

even then we are giving EVERYONE insurance. they have no choice. it seems to me a great time ot raise rates and reduce coverage.

over all t his is a clusterfuck. the idea is great the implementation sucks ass

This is doomed to fail, and has been doomed to fail, from the start. It's not the websites that don't work, it's the plan itself.

And by fail, I mean it will accomplish nothing beyond levying a new tax, enriching the medical industry, and swelling the size and power of government.

The program is basically a tax on the young (who make little), the working class, and small business owners to fund insurance for the un-insurable.

Anyone who's been on this earth for more than a few years should know why the uninsured don't have insurance. There are two basic reasons and one (sad) reason.

1 - They can't afford it
2 - They don't value it
3 - They're not insurable due to an expensive pre-existing condition (this is a subset of group 1)

Which of these 3 groups will jump with joy for ACA? Group 3. That's it.

The group they need is group 2, and they won't bite. Nothing has changed for most of group 1, except to the extent they are now going to get taxed more.

 

[umbrella39]

As long as we can turn away group 2 from the ER and force them to treat themselves I am all for whatever plan you propose to keep the uninsured by choice the hell away from our ER's unless of course they pay up front. Until group 2 is reined in and made to stop getting treatment they have no intention of ever paying for, I have no problem forcing them to buy in. If you want to roll the dice then roll the dice, but don't come crawling in when you need us, we get tired of saving people's lives and never getting reimbursed as a Thank You. We then raise the price of everything next year to cover the loss and the folks who DO have insurance see a huge jump in their premiums next open enrollment.

 

[shady28]

As long as we can turn away group 2 from the ER and force them to treat themselves I am all for whatever plan you propose to keep the uninsured by choice the hell away from our ER's unless of course they pay up front. Until group 2 is reined in and made to stop getting treatment they have no intention of ever paying for, I have no problem forcing them to buy in. If you want to roll the dice then roll the dice, but don't come crawling in when you need us, we get tired of saving people's lives and never getting reimbursed as a Thank You. We then raise the price of everything next year to cover the loss and the folks who DO have insurance see a huge jump in their premiums next open enrollment.

For the record, I have full coverage through my employer and it's better than anything I've seen with regards to ACA so far.

I would not buy into this program if I were 25. When I was 25 to 38 or so, I had something called major medical coverage. It was about $30/ mo through my employer, though I had priced it on the open market (10 years ago) and it was only about $60 there.

What it does is gives you a $10,000 deductible, about 80% coverage up to $20,000, and then 100% coverage up to $1 million. There was no 'preventative' care, and it didn't cover prescription drugs, maternity, mental care, etc (the discretionary stuff). Basically if you got run over by a car and both your legs got broke, you were covered. If you had an aneurysm and needed immediate surgery, it was covered. etc etc etc. It didn't cover chronic disease treatments etc, which most young people don't have anyway.

Frankly that is all I needed then, and imo it is all that most people under 35 need now.

An easy, straightforward, simple replacement for Obamacare would be to levy a $50/mo tax on every adult and provide major medical. That would also lower premiums for those who want more comprehensive coverage.

The ERs would still get stiffed just as they are going to continue to get stiffed. Nothing about ACA changes that, nor will any plan.

As long as the ER is free and deductibles exist it will always be like that.

Simple fix to that is have the IRS pay any tax returns from the 'stiffers' to the hospitals that got stiffed. The IRS never forgets, so even if you don't make enough to pay this year or next year, chances are you will eventually.

Again, lots of simple fixes, but we got ACA instead.

 

[hans030390]

How many of you that are complaining about similar plans doubling or tripling in cost have checked the exchanges to see if you can get something similar at a lower cost (before complaining)? If so, how do comparable plans compare? Are there ones slightly worse at decent prices? Are you already on a ridiculous plan that would normally cost people an arm and a leg? I want numbers and specifics! (Serious question for people that have actually done comparisons before coming here and complaining.)

As a young adult, I am OK paying for insurance (and a bit more of it next year) I probably won't use for a while if it helps keeps insurance costs lower for the general public. Doesn't bother me. Granted, I would prefer it if our society just didn't have health insurance to begin with. Not saying all forms of insurance are necessarily bad, but health insurance seems to just make things messier and more expensive (also other corporations and people jacking up prices...lots of puzzle pieces).

 

[waggy]

check the exchange? lol i been trying for 3 days. it's always down. well then people say "see! it's working so many people are trying to log in"! well..no. even then it should work occasionally. i been trying 3-4 times a day for the last few days.

it's insane..

 

[sportage]

I easily got on just this morning, Sunday 10/6.
Site was quite fast.
Extremely easy to navigate.
Obviously, site was designed with a kid or tea party member as user in mind.
Its pretty no brainer easy.
Most involved part was to verify your identify via the email that was sent out IMMEDIATELY, after creating the logon account.
Then further verification via personal info, SS#, a few past history questions like your high school attended, or year of automobile, or other basic past history.
You select the correct match(s) and away you go.
So obviously very secure. It knows you are you.
This also must be accessing federal information to verify you are you.

Then a series of questions about who you are applying for, yourself, family, illegal alien friends. ( the last one I just tossed in to piss off republicans )

As you continue, the page scrolls down so that you can scroll up to edit any previous info you entered. That was pretty nice.
Several summary pages to let you review your entries.

Then the process was able to know I currently have employer based health insurance and asked for information on that. I guess it is wondering why I was applying when I already had insurance thru employment.
Not that it would stop me from continuing on.
But I stopped the process there.
I just wanted to see if the ACA site was working now, and at least for me, it was.
Actually I was impressed at the speed, response, and ease of use.
Layout was extremely user friendly.

So whatever was done over the weekend, the site seems to be working fine.
That was my experience Sunday am.

So.... now what will Faux News have to harp about next?
The site is too easy?
The security is too strict?
The page color hurts their eyes?
The selection of background music to play while navigating the site? (another piss them off )

 

[Londo_Jowo]

How many of you that are complaining about similar plans doubling or tripling in cost have checked the exchanges to see if you can get something similar at a lower cost (before complaining)? If so, how do comparable plans compare? Are there ones slightly worse at decent prices? Are you already on a ridiculous plan that would normally cost people an arm and a leg? I want numbers and specifics! (Serious question for people that have actually done comparisons before coming here and complaining.)

As a young adult, I am OK paying for insurance (and a bit more of it next year) I probably won't use for a while if it helps keeps insurance costs lower for the general public. Doesn't bother me. Granted, I would prefer it if our society just didn't have health insurance to begin with. Not saying all forms of insurance are necessarily bad, but health insurance seems to just make things messier and more expensive (also other corporations and people jacking up prices...lots of puzzle pieces).

Actually certain criteria must be met to use the exchange if your employer is providing insurance that meet the federal standards.

[FONT=&quot]Does Employer Health Coverage Affect Eligibility for Premium Savings through the Marketplace?[/FONT]
Yes. If you have an offer of health coverage from your employer that meets certain standards, you will not be eligible for a tax credit through the Marketplace and may wish to enroll in your employer's health plan. However, you may be eligible for a tax credit that lowers your monthly premium, or a reduction in certain cost-sharing if your employer does not offer coverage to you at all or does not offer coverage that meets certain standards. If the cost of a plan from your employer that would cover you (and not any other members of your family) is more than 9.5% of your household income for the year, or if the coverage your employer provides does not meet the "minimum value" standard set by the Affordable Care Act, you may be eligible for a tax credit.1

Note: If you purchase a health plan through the Marketplace instead of accepting health coverage offered by your employer, then you may lose the employer contribution (if any) to the employer-offered coverage. Also, this employer contribution -as well as your employee contribution to employer-offered coverage- is often excluded from income for Federal and State income tax purposes. Your payments for coverage through the Marketplace are made on an after-tax basis.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

As usual sportage spouting BS.

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