Thoughts on health insurance in America

[Harry]

Hey Rick. I've been around, but don't get out as much as I used to. Hope all is well with the family.

Good to hear from you Z-man

[oldguystudent]

While I have no need for it, I've been trying for three days just to look at the insurance policies on the healthcare.gov website. I didn't get through to register until today, then when I did, it didn't recognize my username/password. I tried to reset it, and, surprise of surprises, the traffic once again won't let me into the site. Really glad I've only been conducting this exercise as a matter of curiosity.

[FirefightnRick]

Failed Healthcare.gov Website Cost $634 Million.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/opinion/obamacare-healthcare-gov-website-cost/

Rick

[UNTFan23]

Failed Healthcare.gov Website Cost $634 Million.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/opinion/obamacare-healthcare-gov-website-cost/

Rick

The IT professional in me continues to laugh at the implementation of healthcare.gov.

Project Management Diagram

This is true in most IT shops and any government organization (think FEMA).

Edited October 10, 2013 by UNTFan23

[FirefightnRick]

Regulations Of Obamacare 30 Times Longer Than The Law Itself...11,588,500 Words Long.

http://m.cnsnews.com/news/article/penny-starr/11588500-words-obamacare-regs-30x-long-law

Rick

[FirefightnRick]

NOW......... the Democrats want to delay Obamacare.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/manchin-working-on-bill-to-delay-obamacare-individual-mandate

Rick

[KRAM1]

State of Michigan has reported that those who have been able to get through and sign up for O-Care are finding premiums 40% higher than they could have found on the open market in Mich. prior to O-Care.

NICE way to hold down costs, right? Perhaps folks should have read the bill before they passed it! ha!

And today...the great leadership in the White House announces that the delay granted in the mandatory sign up deadline WAS NOT due to the fact that the system is a disaster, but rather so folks will not be confused over the penalty deadline for not signing up! RIGHT...and just who does the White House think will believe that load of BS from the White House?

Not even big unions are buying into the "greatness" of this disaster of a health care law. Looks like O's pals in the Unions were as hoodwinked as everyone else...guess they didn't read it either before they threw their support behind the thing! Too funny...but typical of the sheep who want more and more entitlements and less and less personal responsibility.

[UNTFan23]

I watched a good portion of the inquiry this morning and I was wondering why the Project Manager was not present. The committee members were asking all these questions that the companies that worked on different pieces of the project could not answer as they were not part of the project in a holistic manner. Some people were getting frustrated at the lack of answers and finger pointing but the PM could have helped deflect a lot of the anger directed at the individual companies.

I also loved the IT answers that were given. My favorite was when they were asked when all the problems would be fixed and the response was that they could not give an end date. That is called managing your customers' expectations when you have a project with massive problems and you and your project team have no idea just how severe the problems really are. That got a couple of the committee members hot under the collar.

I'm still floored that they didn't start full blown system testing until 2 weeks before the Go Live date. For a project this size that should have started back as early as this spring and no later than mid-summer. Of course you are going to have huge problems when you piece it all together and start running things from end-to-end, but with enough lead time in your testing phase you can get many of those problems fixed. The final straw to me was that the PM didn't lock down requirements sooner in the project to prevent what in the IT arena is called Scope or Feature Creep. The decision to make everyone register before being able to shop the policies happened 2 weeks before Go Live. A properly managed project with a competent PM would have never allowed that to happen.

All in all, with all the details that have come out since Oct. 1, I'm not shocked that the website rollout has had massive issues.

[Stix]

Obamacare computer code riddled with typos, Latin filler text, desperate programmer comments and disastrous architecture

Warning: this article is fairly technical.

http://www.naturalnews.com/042428_Obamacare_exchange_Javascript_critical_errors.html##ixzz2iZpRh1ze

[Green Mean]

Obamacare computer code riddled with typos, Latin filler text, desperate programmer comments and disastrous architecture

Warning: this article is fairly technical.

http://www.naturalnews.com/042428_Obamacare_exchange_Javascript_critical_errors.html##ixzz2iZpRh1ze

Being in IT myself I certainly understand and relate to the issues but the writer of this article certainly doesn't hesitate in bringing actual politics and his own political opinions into this.

[LongJim]

Being in IT myself I certainly understand and relate to the issues but the writer of this article certainly doesn't hesitate in bringing actual politics and his own political opinions into this.

I agree. However, IMO, it's hard to push the reaction into hyperbole. This has been an unmitigated disaster.

[JesseMartin]

I giggle every time I think this, but what if Obamacare is a ruse? What if it was intended to be annoying and overcomplicated so that people will go, "damn, do the Canadians and Brits and other advanced countries have these problems with their universal care?" Then people turn to the standard countries like that use, which was probably the goal all along, just to stop being annoyed as much as they are at the ACA.

[oldguystudent]

I giggle every time I think this, but what if Obamacare is a ruse? What if it was intended to be annoying and overcomplicated so that people will go, "damn, do the Canadians and Brits and other advanced countries have these problems with their universal care?" Then people turn to the standard countries like that use, which was probably the goal all along, just to stop being annoyed as much as they are at the ACA.

Either way, had things stayed status quo, there would've been a revolt. As things are, there's going to be a revolt. As things were, as they currently are, all but the very wealthy, as in $5 million per person, is destined to die bankrupt at the hands of health care. That's just not an acceptable strategy for all but a very small number of the population. If nothing changes from this ACA thing, I foresee a bustling black market in health care. This place is a mucking fess.

[DoubleEagle]

As things were, as they currently are, all but the very wealthy, as in $5 million per person, is destined to die bankrupt at the hands of health care.

I disagree. Currently the majority of Americans are covered through their employer and then roll onto Medicare after retirement. This system has effectively provided access to healthcare for most Americans for decades. I would hazard a guess that few people with health insurance are forced into bankruptcy due to health related expenses.

[Stix]

I giggle every time I think this, but what if Obamacare is a ruse? What if it was intended to be annoying and overcomplicated so that people will go, "damn, do the Canadians and Brits and other advanced countries have these problems with their universal care?" Then people turn to the standard countries like that use, which was probably the goal all along, just to stop being annoyed as much as they are at the ACA.

It's not a joke - Obama, Hillary, etc. have always said what they want is "single payor healthcare", i.e. government-run, and that this is just a step towards it. Yes, Obamacare is designed to fail.

Think about how such a complex law just got dropped on the Congress. It had to have been being worked on for years behind the scenes - perhaps since "Hillarycare" failed in Bill Clinton's first term.

I'm surprised that so few have talked about the "Hillarycare".

[oldguystudent]

I disagree. Currently the majority of Americans are covered through their employer and then roll onto Medicare after retirement. This system has effectively provided access to healthcare for most Americans for decades. I would hazard a guess that few people with health insurance are forced into bankruptcy due to health related expenses.

But the thing is, every year I've had a job in my life, year to year, my salary has gone up 3-4%, my premiums have gone up 10-25%. My coverage in that same time period has gone from 100% no deductible to 70% $5000 deductible. It doesn't take a mathematical savant to see that over time, I would eventually have to start paying my employer to go to work. I don't know how things were prior to the 90s. They were pretty good in the 90s. Then they got crazy out of hand every year.

[forevereagle]

This system has effectively provided access to healthcare for most Americans for decades.

Health insurance has been available to people outside of employers for years. It wasn't supplemented by anyone, but it was available. Under this system, people who don't currently have insurance may be able to have their insurance supplemented, but no guarantee. I would say that so far, access is no better than it was before.

[DoubleEagle]

But the thing is, every year I've had a job in my life, year to year, my salary has gone up 3-4%, my premiums have gone up 10-25%. My coverage in that same time period has gone from 100% no deductible to 70% $5000 deductible. It doesn't take a mathematical savant to see that over time, I would eventually have to start paying my employer to go to work.

Agreed. Healthcare costs have increased faster than median income for quite some time, but so has the cost of an average home or college education. However, nothing in the new law addresses the cost of healthcare, only access. What the ACA will accomplish is to move the burden of healthcare costs from the consumers of healthcare to all taxpayers, thus socializing the expense of healthcare in America.

[UNTFan23]

The Single Payer option again only deals with the insurance side, not the actual care provided to you by a doctor or at the hospital. If we were to go to a Single Payer system, I'm not sure the high deductibles would go away without seeing premiums shoot through the roof.

[UNTflyer]

So last summer I got food poisoning, violently. I was dry heaving for hours and from previous experience knew there was a shot I could get to make this stop. I go into Baylor Uptown and tell them I need this shot. They say I was most likely dehydrated, which was likely, so I agreed to have one bag of IV fluids dumped into me. I come out an hour later and go home.

A month later I get a bill for $1,800. ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS. I'm a healthy, active 27 year old so naturally I have a HDHP. I got to eat all of that.

Guess what? I had this EXACT same shot while at UNT, that's how I knew it existed. At UNT I did not buy the supplemental insurance and I actually did not have private insurance either - I was rolling the dice.

I was billed $20. One bag of IV was the only difference, that does not cost $1,780.

SOMEBODY has to pay for everyone who brings their kids with a mild fever to the ER.

[GreenMachine]

But the thing is, every year I've had a job in my life, year to year, my salary has gone up 3-4%, my premiums have gone up 10-25%. My coverage in that same time period has gone from 100% no deductible to 70% $5000 deductible. It doesn't take a mathematical savant to see that over time, I would eventually have to start paying my employer to go to work. I don't know how things were prior to the 90s. They were pretty good in the 90s. Then they got crazy out of hand every year.

If you have averaged 3-4% raise annually you either need to look at changing career fields or look at your job performance. As an average, that should be totally unacceptable.

[oldguystudent]

If you have averaged 3-4% raise annually you either need to look at changing career fields or look at your job performance. As an average, that should be totally unacceptable.

Ignore the very real, statistically provable fact that health care costs are raping you more and more violently with each passing year. Do better at your job ya damn hippie!

I love finger pointing cognitive dissonance.

Please, tell me I'm a socialist Muslim next.

[GreenMachine]

Ignore the very real, statistically provable fact that health care costs are raping you more and more violently with each passing year. Do better at your job ya damn hippie!

I love finger pointing cognitive dissonance.

Please, tell me I'm a socialist Muslim next.

Costs are going up each year but I wasn't addressing that issue. If you have averaged only 3-4% annual raises and are satisfied with that, good for you. If not, maybe a look within will reveal some things to address and work on.

[HoustonEagle]

Costs are going up each year but I wasn't addressing that issue. If you have averaged only 3-4% annual raises and are satisfied with that, good for you. If not, maybe a look within will reveal some things to address and work on.

I am guessing you don't realize that you just singled out every teacher in America. Bunch of slackers working to better our children and society.

[GreenMachine]

I am guessing you don't realize that you just singled out every teacher in America. Bunch of slackers working to better our children and society.

Actually I was addressing one single person. Notice the statement within his quote and also specifically referring to him.