Obamacare Website Is FUBAR - National Journal Explains
In a must read story about the upcoming open enrollment period for health care this year, National Journal notes a long list of pitfalls and problems facing Obamacare and its troubled website.
“People who already bought health insurance through Obamacare will likely face another round of confusing technical issues as they try to reenroll for a second year. The health care law's second open-enrollment period begins Nov. 15. . . . Health insurance companies, at least so far, seem to think HealthCare.gov is on the right track to function more smoothly for new customers. But insurers still see gaps in the system for people who want to renew their coverage, including pitfalls that threaten consumers with duplicate enrollments, unexpected cancellations, or surprising tax bills.
“Insurers aren't necessarily worried about problems as dramatic as last year's HealthCare.gov failure, but rather what one industry official called ‘a soup of kind of icky things’ that could make life difficult for returning enrollees. . . .
“Due to complicated behind-the-scenes changes in the way the law's tax credits are calculated, people who automatically renew their policies, without taking another pass through the enrollment system, are at risk for particularly large and often surprising cost increases
“And while major improvements have been made to HealthCare.gov's user experience, some parts of the system's ‘back end’ are still under construction—including the mechanism that reconciles insurers' information with the federal government's, to make sure both systems acknowledge they've enrolled the same people.
“As part of the reconciliation process, insurers will get a list of everyone the government has logged as reenrolling in their plans. But they won't get a list of people who have decided to drop their plans, the industry official said. This same information was often missing, incomplete, or wrong during the first open-enrollment period—that was the fuss over ‘834’ transmissions—and, partly because of that experience, insurers are afraid some people will fall through the cracks.”
Further, National Journal explains, “[T]o whatever extent these issues do trip up consumers, the shorter enrollment window might make the confusion harder to resolve, at least quickly. The second sign-up period ends in February, soon after Obamacare enrollees are scheduled to receive a notice outlining the tax credits they received to help pay for their coverage. If their subsidies were too big and they owe the IRS money, that doesn't leave much time to go back and update their financial information for the next year, the industry official warned.”
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Editorial Note: The acronym FUBAR in the headline is appropriate but not cited in the actual article. It is negative military lingo. The "BAR" part means "beyond all recognition" If you need the meaning of the "FU" part ask a career or combat vet.
Tags: Obamacrare, Obamacare website, a mess, Confusing Technical Issues, System's ‘Back End, Still Under Construction, FUBAR To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
“People who already bought health insurance through Obamacare will likely face another round of confusing technical issues as they try to reenroll for a second year. The health care law's second open-enrollment period begins Nov. 15. . . . Health insurance companies, at least so far, seem to think HealthCare.gov is on the right track to function more smoothly for new customers. But insurers still see gaps in the system for people who want to renew their coverage, including pitfalls that threaten consumers with duplicate enrollments, unexpected cancellations, or surprising tax bills.
“Insurers aren't necessarily worried about problems as dramatic as last year's HealthCare.gov failure, but rather what one industry official called ‘a soup of kind of icky things’ that could make life difficult for returning enrollees. . . .
“Due to complicated behind-the-scenes changes in the way the law's tax credits are calculated, people who automatically renew their policies, without taking another pass through the enrollment system, are at risk for particularly large and often surprising cost increases
“And while major improvements have been made to HealthCare.gov's user experience, some parts of the system's ‘back end’ are still under construction—including the mechanism that reconciles insurers' information with the federal government's, to make sure both systems acknowledge they've enrolled the same people.
“As part of the reconciliation process, insurers will get a list of everyone the government has logged as reenrolling in their plans. But they won't get a list of people who have decided to drop their plans, the industry official said. This same information was often missing, incomplete, or wrong during the first open-enrollment period—that was the fuss over ‘834’ transmissions—and, partly because of that experience, insurers are afraid some people will fall through the cracks.”
Further, National Journal explains, “[T]o whatever extent these issues do trip up consumers, the shorter enrollment window might make the confusion harder to resolve, at least quickly. The second sign-up period ends in February, soon after Obamacare enrollees are scheduled to receive a notice outlining the tax credits they received to help pay for their coverage. If their subsidies were too big and they owe the IRS money, that doesn't leave much time to go back and update their financial information for the next year, the industry official warned.”
---------------
Editorial Note: The acronym FUBAR in the headline is appropriate but not cited in the actual article. It is negative military lingo. The "BAR" part means "beyond all recognition" If you need the meaning of the "FU" part ask a career or combat vet.
Tags: Obamacrare, Obamacare website, a mess, Confusing Technical Issues, System's ‘Back End, Still Under Construction, FUBAR To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
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