Obamacare’s Summer of ‘Setbacks’

 Nearly One Year After Disastrous Website Rollout, Obamacare Still Plagued By ‘Technological Flaws’ And ‘Significant Security Weaknesses;’ ‘Tens Of Thousands’ Face Loss Of Plans, Unexpected Tax Bills
Nearly A Year Later, ‘Confusion And Anger’ Persist Amid Obamacare Flaws “The Affordable Care Act faced a series of setbacks this summer, including a barrage of criticism against Healthcare.gov and a hacker who successfully breached the site last week. Federal appeals courts also released a pair of contradictory rulings on the law involving states without their own marketplaces.” (“Support For Obamacare Continues To Fall,” The Hill, 9/9/14)

“Potential complications await consumers as President Barack Obama's health care law approaches its second open enrollment season, just two months away.” (“Hurdles For Obama Health Law In 2nd Sign-Up Season,” AP, 9/15/14)

GAO Report: ‘Security Risks’ Remain Nearly A Year After O-Care Website Launch “Nonpartisan congressional investigators say the HealthCare.gov website has significant security weaknesses that could put Americans' personal information at risk.” (“Probe: Healthcare.gov Website Must Boost Security,” AP, 9/16/14)

• “HealthCare.gov, President Barack Obama's health insurance exchange, has security and privacy protection vulnerabilities… nearly a year after the website's troubled rollout.” (“GAO Report Warns Of Security Risks In U.S. Healthcare Website,” Reuters, 9/16/14)

‘Tens Of Thousands Likely To Lose Health Insurance’ “Tens of thousands of people are likely to lose their health insurance at the end of this month because they missed a deadline to confirm they are legally residing in the U.S., the Obama administration said Monday.” (“Tens Of Thousands Likely To Lose Health Insurance At End Of September,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/15/14)

• “In all, 115,000 people whose citizenship or immigration status wasn't verified by HealthCare.gov hadn't contacted the federal government by a Sept. 5 deadline to send additional documents, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said. The government is now set to inform insurers to terminate at the end of the month the coverage those people bought through HealthCare.gov.” (“Tens Of Thousands Likely To Lose Health Insurance At End Of September,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/15/14)

“The issues stem from technological flaws in the HealthCare.gov website that persisted through the first year's sign-up period.”(“Tens Of Thousands Likely To Lose Health Insurance At End Of September,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/15/14)

‘Income Checks Throw Californians Off Health Plans’ “Some Californians who purchased individual health coverage through the state's insurance exchange are suddenly being dropped or transferred to Medi-Cal, the program for the poor that fewer doctors and providers accept. …the changes are occurring as incomes are checked to verify the policyholders can purchase insurance through the exchange.” (“Income Checks Throw Californians Off Health Plans,” AP, 9/9/14)

“Since the shifts often happen without warning, there's confusion and anger among policyholders.” (“Income Checks Throw Californians Off Health Plans,” AP, 9/9/14)

775 Oregon Households Must Repay Tax Credits Due To An ‘Incorrect Formula’ “Cover Oregon has identified 775 households that will owe money to the federal government because they were given tax credits that were too large, the agency's director told a state legislative committee on Monday.” (“Cover Oregon: Tax Credit Error Hit At Least 775 Who Will Owe Money,” AP, 9/15/14)

“Cover Oregon officials have acknowledged they used an incorrect formula to calculate tax credits for people purchasing private health plans through the state's insurance marketplace.” (“Cover Oregon: Tax Credit Error Hit At Least 775 Who Will Owe Money,” AP, 9/15/14)

Vermont Exchange Pulled Down For ‘Weeks’ Of Maintenance “The dysfunctional, more than $70-million Vermont Health Connect website is down for maintenance for a period of what state officials expect will be weeks, not days.” (“Troubled Vt. Insurance Exchange Site Pulled Offline,” WPTZ [VT], 9/16/14)

• “The site still cannot fulfill all its intended goals, despite having launched nearly a year ago.” (“Troubled Vt. Insurance Exchange Site Pulled Offline,” WPTZ [VT], 9/16/14)

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