So last week we told you how Darrell Issa was being a total dickhole, which is only natural for one who has been projectile vomited from the dark depths of Satan's nether-regions. Well, Issa followed through on his threat to subpoena Todd Park, the chief IT guy at the White House who is feverishly working to fix the
"...And we're looking at about 50k exchange signups TOTAL at the moment."
I have been seeing this number lately. I am wondering how it squares with the fact that just one state exchange (New York) is reporting that over 100k users have established accounts on it so far. Even Kentucky (yes, that Kentucky) is reporting a very strong positive response to its state exchange, too.
You see, not all of the ininsured/underinsured even need to use the national website to shop for insurance. Many live in states with state-run exchanges that are largely functioning well. A big chunk of the target population for Obamacare will never use the healthcare.gov website anyway. When I went to use it, for example, it smoothly and seamlessly redirected me to the website for my state exchange.
Plus, the same ACA-compliant, subsidy-eligible policies can be obtained via Navigators and even local insurance brokers. That's right, the ACA and healthcare.gov were never intended to put the traditional brokers out of business, and they haven't.
Finally, based on the history of comparable initiatives, a slow initial rate of adoption is quite typical. Social Security, Medicare, the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, and even Romneycare in MA exhibited exactly the same pattern. This time around, people have until March to meet the law's mandate for insurance. So potential subscribers are taking their time, shopping around and comparing plans. Even those who signed up during the first week of October will not have insurance coverage until January 1, 2014.
And many people held off in order to avoid the expected crush of users that flocked to the sites in the first few weeks. After all, we're not talking about Black Friday here; the insurance policies in question are not being offered in intentionally limited quantities. Insurance shoppers don't have to Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! While Supplies Last! because the insurance companies aren't going to somehow "run out of" policies to sell if shoppers don't Act Now!
If history is any guide, you can expect to see a big spike in sign-ups as the March deadline approaches. That will be analogous to what happened with Social Security, Medicare, Romneycare, etc.
One last thing: it really pains me to have to constantly point out the obvious: the national website "healthcare.gov" does not equal "Obamacare." Glitches with the website do not mean that "the law is failing" as many media outlets have ignorantly reported. (I'm looking at YOU, NBC Nightly News.)
Next time I find myself wanting to slap some IT project manager for calling us all into another meeting so we can talk about and figure out why we're so far behind schedule instead of letting us DO OUR WORK SO WE CAN GET BACK ON SCHEDULE!!!, I will at least be thankful that I don't have to endure being talked down to by the likes of Darrell Issa.
I'm expecting him to try a DDOS attack the night of the 12th, just in case a subpoena wasn't destructive enough.
It will fail, of course, since Darrell Issa is barely smart enough to operate a pocket calculator, but since everyone already knows that, comedic value will unfortunately be minimized.
i signed up four people today. true they were all medicaid, but that's part of the deal. AND they were about 25.
i'm not ready to give this up. hell i took a job to try and make this work.
"...And we're looking at about 50k exchange signups TOTAL at the moment."
I have been seeing this number lately. I am wondering how it squares with the fact that just one state exchange (New York) is reporting that over 100k users have established accounts on it so far. Even Kentucky (yes, that Kentucky) is reporting a very strong positive response to its state exchange, too.
You see, not all of the ininsured/underinsured even need to use the national website to shop for insurance. Many live in states with state-run exchanges that are largely functioning well. A big chunk of the target population for Obamacare will never use the healthcare.gov website anyway. When I went to use it, for example, it smoothly and seamlessly redirected me to the website for my state exchange.
Plus, the same ACA-compliant, subsidy-eligible policies can be obtained via Navigators and even local insurance brokers. That's right, the ACA and healthcare.gov were never intended to put the traditional brokers out of business, and they haven't.
Finally, based on the history of comparable initiatives, a slow initial rate of adoption is quite typical. Social Security, Medicare, the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, and even Romneycare in MA exhibited exactly the same pattern. This time around, people have until March to meet the law's mandate for insurance. So potential subscribers are taking their time, shopping around and comparing plans. Even those who signed up during the first week of October will not have insurance coverage until January 1, 2014.
And many people held off in order to avoid the expected crush of users that flocked to the sites in the first few weeks. After all, we're not talking about Black Friday here; the insurance policies in question are not being offered in intentionally limited quantities. Insurance shoppers don't have to Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! While Supplies Last! because the insurance companies aren't going to somehow "run out of" policies to sell if shoppers don't Act Now!
If history is any guide, you can expect to see a big spike in sign-ups as the March deadline approaches. That will be analogous to what happened with Social Security, Medicare, Romneycare, etc.
One last thing: it really pains me to have to constantly point out the obvious: the national website "healthcare.gov" does not equal "Obamacare." Glitches with the website do not mean that "the law is failing" as many media outlets have ignorantly reported. (I'm looking at YOU, NBC Nightly News.)
Is it plugged in?
Never, ever piss off: • IT people • Payroll administrators • Anyone who handles your food before you get it
Next time I find myself wanting to slap some IT project manager for calling us all into another meeting so we can talk about and figure out why we're so far behind schedule instead of letting us DO OUR WORK SO WE CAN GET BACK ON SCHEDULE!!!, I will at least be thankful that I don't have to endure being talked down to by the likes of Darrell Issa.
<i>Darrell Issa was being a total dickhole.</i>
Was. Is. Will always be.
Mr. Issa, do not piss off the IT guy. It never ends well.
Before you know it, kitten porn will be on your hard drive.
I&#039;m expecting him to try a DDOS attack the night of the 12th, just in case a subpoena wasn&#039;t destructive enough.
It will fail, of course, since Darrell Issa is barely smart enough to operate a pocket calculator, but since everyone already knows that, comedic value will unfortunately be minimized.
knowing Issa, that would be an improvement
and IRSGate