Months after the original release of healthcare.gov, it appears that even though people can technically buy insurance on the site, underneath it all, the website’s “back end” is a mess. The website is still missing huge, critical pieces.
Behind the scenes the website’s system is made up of a tangle of workarounds moving billions of taxpayer dollars and premiums between the government and insurers. One of the major parts that still isn’t working properly is the function that accurately pays insurers. Experts say that the longer they lag the more likely they will see serious accounting problems that could lead the public to pay for higher premium subsidies or higher health care costs.
“It seems like the insurers’ experience with Obamacare is a lot like that of far too many Americans: broken promises, frequent delays and constantly shifting rules of the road,” said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “It seems like there’s a lot more to the story than what the administration says in their pep rallies.”
Because of all these problems with the website still, it is impossible for officials to accurately determine how many of the 8 million sign-ups announced last week have actually paid their premiums. They also can’t tell how many signup attempts were never completed. This problem could cause the government to spend the wrong amount of money on premium subsidies.
Once they actually do fix the site, it is possible that the 8 million number Obama gave us last week, might actually be incorrect. Officials refuse to provide an update on just how much of the website needs fixing and there is now no timetable for when it will be done.
Basically, DHS has majorly dropped the ball here. The website launched back in OCTOBER! There are still problems with the website and numbers that we are being quoted, may actually be wrong. No wonder Kathleen Sebelius stepped down, she must have been sick and tired of working with such a dysfunctional group.
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