The Healthcare.gov website is horrible! — Page 15

In a year they will still have to change their policy and still have the possible added expense and deal with losses of their doctors. This is akin to putting a band aid on a severed arm.

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Updated On: 11/14/13 at 02:34 PM

Dented

If you continue to make sense you will be banned from the discussion. Can't have any of that here.

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Why You Shouldn't Be Able to Keep Your Health Plan

I think it's a bad idea to roll back the coverage. We all need to be paying into the common pool, otherwise this insurance isn't going to work. The enrollees are already so low that I'm concerned it will fold.

I wonder what my Blue Cross will say, since I already received notice of a cancellation.

Tomorrow is the day (I'm told) I will be able to edit my financial information, after a six-week wait, and determine my monthly rate. I will let you know how it goes.

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The ACA needs younger, healthier people (by history they don't make as much money as older, needier folks) to pay into this insurance, or it will not work. They should qualify for a good rate.

If not, this is doomed. If everyone is paying more money than they were before, this will fail.

... and I will be uninsured (at least as long as I stay freelance and/or unemployed).

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Check. Thank you.

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Yeah, there's an inherent hedge in that statement, isn't there?

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There is no hedge here. I would support a Federal amendment to the Constitution making gay marriage legal throughout the USA. I don't think someone who is married in New York and needs to relocate to another state where gay marriage is not legal, should lose their legal status.

Furthermore, I don't see where gay marriage infringes on the rights of anyone who does not believe in it.

It is possible to have this belief and still feel that the federal government has no business running our healthcare system. I also believe that this administration has created more animosity between both parties than any other in my lifetime.

Jon Stewart: Obama 'Somewhat Dishonest' About Healthcare But Republicans Are 'Lying Like Motherf*ckers'

The latest in my arduous journey:

So I called the heathcare.gov phone line from my own phone number (preregistered with them) with the understanding that I would automatically be transferred to their Advance Resolutions Center. That's what I was told, and it was a way for me to bypass the general, initial call center operators. They told me that I would have an voice prompt that would tell me to press a certain number to be transferred to the advanced center.

It never happened.

I had to go through the initial operators at the call center.

Call #1 - she apologized for the inconvenience and transferred me manually. The phone went dead a few seconds later.

Call #2 - I got a brassy operator on the phone who said they weren't allowed to transfer calls to the Advanced Resolutions Center, and she could help me fill out a request and someone would call me back in three days. When I told her I had already done this twice and I was told I could be transferred there already by several previous operators, she said, "Well, we can't do that, and I should know because I work here."

I hung up on her and tried again.

Call #3 - I got a nice, intelligent operator who transferred me right away. The call went through right away.

The Advanced Resolutions Center operator pulled up my record and saw everything that had been said and done previously. I told her that I was asked to call back on the 15th (today) and that someone could help me either delete or edit my current application to reflect the various changes in my income (including unemployment) that would allow me to qualify for a tax credit. She understood all of that, put me on hold, and came back about 30 seconds later, saying the site was still not able to process edits or deletes even though it still says that should be happening as of today. She took down my phone numbers (home and cell) and told me she would call me back personally as soon as she was able to do anything from her end.

So nothing has changed, except I still have one month until my current Blue Cross plan is cancelled (if I don't enroll by December 15th, there will be a gap in coverage beginning January 1st).

I still have one month. I called Blue Cross after that just to see if they had heard anything about extending current policies even though that was only announced yesterday. By the way, the Blue Cross Blue Shield operators are always bright, articulate, and very helpful. She said that because the policies extension was determined on the state level, they hadn't received any information about a possible extension yet. She also said that they would be notifying all of their current customers immediately should an extension take place.

That's the latest.

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Updated On: 11/15/13 at 11:00 AM

Yes, thanks for sharing besty.

And, dented, thanks to your for you calm clarity. It's a pleasure to disagree with you sometimes.

The states banning mixed marriages (anti-miscegenation laws) were ruled unconstitutional in 1967 (yes, that recently there were 13 states that banned marriage between blacks and whites). You can read about how/why it was ruled unconstitutional to pass such laws here:


Loving vs. Virginia

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Well, I thought I'd report back one last time and tell you how my story ended.

The website is working just fine now. That's not the problem. The problem is that the Affordable Healthcare Act is not affordable.

I was already on a single payer plan ever since I lost my job (the small company I was working for closed down) and was laid off last April. I finally got all of my financial info recorded into the website. I made decent money until the layoff, then nothing, then unemployment insurance, then nothing again. My total income for the year wasn't great, but it wasn't "nothing" either. I have income from other sources as well (as an author/writer and with stocks, bonds, etc.). Still, I made below (state) average income for the past year.

Back to the ACA website ... I filled in all the info and it kicked out many options for me. Yes, I could get insurance for less than what I was already paying on my single Blue Cross plan. But the coverage was less. My copays were higher, my deductible was higher, and my maximum out-of-pocket annual expense was higher. If I chose a plan that equaled what I currently have, my monthly premium would go up an additional $150 a month, brining me just under $500 per month, without dental insurance.

My state (Kansas) did eventually approve current health plans to be extended for the next calendar year, so regrettably, I chose that option. I still have my old insurance with the better coverage and cost.

To summarize, my "below average" income this past year didn't qualify me for tax credits that made the insurance "affordable." It was more expensive than my current plan. A lot more expensive. So I went with the old plan.

I was really hoping this wouldn't be the case, and I really do want the ACA to work in theory. But if this is how it works "in practice," it's no good ... to me and probably to millions of others.

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