# What is your ongoing opinion of the Affordable Care Act? (Title Edited) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 17, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561 "2013-01-17T23:21:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 29
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/562 "2013-10-06T17:43:34Z")
> [@Lok](#): > > Yeah, it isn’t likely a good deal if you have decent insurance from an employer. But for someone that doesn’t, it is a huge difference. I would say that that difference of $13,000 is yet another data point showing were jobs were and are going until the ACA and more reforms to health care are made. This tell us that for the excess amount a typical midsize or large employer is paying for in the old system means that many assistant, temporary, entry level or even full time jobs are not likely to exist because of the extra expense. ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/563 "2013-10-21T21:45:18Z")
I’m surprised there’s no comments about the problems with the Fed Govt ACA website. HHS really screwed the pooch with this rollout and it’s giving the ACA’s enemies something to bray about and loudly. As a software developer, I have to say, “Bad form HHS”. On the other hand, I was able to check out Maryland’s state ACA website (after the first few days of high volume) and at least see a list of some possible insurance companies. I don’t plan to purchase any since I get mine through work, but I wanted to see what I would get. I’m going to have to study it further. ---
**Author:** ![A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_nice_guy_with_an_opinion)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/564 "2013-10-21T22:28:00Z")
You get a cut in cost, get to keep your plan, get to keep your doctor…Why are people bitching? Government bra is down and the teat is flowing! ---
**Author:** ![A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_nice_guy_with_an_opinion)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/565 "2013-10-21T22:30:05Z")
Obama’s Helfcare pep rally was epic! He even saved the diabetic that almost fainted. Bless him, and the USA! ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/566 "2013-10-21T22:46:29Z")
> [@computergeek](#): > > On the other hand, I was able to check out Maryland’s state ACA website (after the first few days of high volume) and at least see a list of some possible insurance companies. I don’t plan to purchase any since I get mine through work, but I wanted to see what I would get. I’m going to have to study it further. I worked with the Maryland web site. It does not remember your previous plan searches, so you have to re-enter all the info about the members of your family again and again to search, it has absolutely no information about which physicians work with which plans, and as you move around it once in a while conks out and does not allow you to log in again. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/567 "2013-10-22T04:42:19Z")
So we’re still waiting for that health care rollout. I’m sure they’ll get to it at some point, maybe a year or two from now. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/568 "2013-10-22T04:51:47Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I worked with the Maryland web site. It does not remember your previous plan searches, so you have to re-enter all the info about the members of your family again and again to search, it has absolutely no information about which physicians work with which plans, and as you move around it once in a while conks out and does not allow you to log in again. And who’s fault is that? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/569 "2013-10-22T04:54:26Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > So we’re still waiting for that health care rollout. I’m sure they’ll get to it at some point, maybe a year or two from now. Jan 1, 2014. You’re a bit early. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/570 "2013-10-22T05:16:27Z")
Employer mandate doesn’t go into effect until Jan. 2015. If website problems last past Dec. 15, individual will also have to be delayed. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/571 "2013-10-22T05:52:43Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > And who’s fault is that? “Whose”. The fault falls on whoever was responsible for setting up the web site. This is not “traffic” problems. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/572 "2013-10-22T05:56:21Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > “Whose”. The fault falls on whoever was responsible for setting up the web site. This is not “traffic” problems. Like the State of Maryland? That’s a state exchange site. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/573 "2013-10-22T06:16:05Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Like the State of Maryland? That’s a state exchange site. Yes. And? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/574 "2013-10-22T06:26:53Z")
Speaking of traffic problems, isn’t it awesome how easily the administration lies? “The site doesn’t work because it’s so successful!” was basically what they wanted you to believe. Even now, they still won’t come clean about exactly what’s wrong. It’s all a big secret, you see. We know more about the NSA secret programs than we do about [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov). ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/575 "2013-10-22T07:19:07Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Speaking of traffic problems, isn’t it awesome how easily the administration lies? “The site doesn’t work because it’s so successful!” was basically what they wanted you to believe. That is just spin. It is not what the administration said, someone else lied to you. > **[Obama: No ‘sugarcoating’ problems with health website | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/21/politics/obamacare-problems/)** > > Obamacare: President Obama turns his attention to website problems that have plagued his signature health care reforms. > [@](#): > > President Barack Obama pledged to stamp out the gremlins plaguing his administration’s signature health-care overhaul Monday, saying there was no “sugarcoating” the difficulties faced by Americans hoping to sign up for insurance coverage online. > > “Nobody’s madder than me about the website not working as well as it should, which means it’s going to get fixed,” Obama said during an appearance at the White House Rose Garden. But he didn’t specify exactly what went wrong or who was to blame for the problems, which include long waits to log onto the federally administered website and maddeningly long wait times once online. > > There’s “no excuse for the problems,” Obama said. But he said tech industry experts were being brought in to help workers going 24/7 to fix the site, [HealthCare.gov](http://HealthCare.gov), which went live October 1. And he pointed out that the site isn’t the only way to buy coverage. > [@adaher](#): > > Even now, they still won’t come clean about exactly what’s wrong. It’s all a big secret, you see. We know more about the NSA secret programs than we do about [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov). A dumb point to make, many organizations do not release information like that just because and there are reasons why releasing information early can lead to trouble when a lot of context is missing. In any case Sebelius will face the music on the coming hearing on October 30. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/576 "2013-10-22T07:31:20Z")
The President acknowledged “glitches” only a few days ago. Which also does not accurately describe the scale of the problem. Prior to that, the line throughout the administration was simply that the site couldn’t handle the volume. And the administration has been keeping [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov) a secret from the start. They were not transparent about how it was doing before Oct. 1 and they aren’t being transparent about how they are addressing the problems, or if they even know what the problems are, as of Oct. 22. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/577 "2013-10-22T07:34:28Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > That is just spin. It is not what the administration said, someone else lied to you. [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/1/obama-now-says-obamacare-will-bring-months-glitche/#ixzz2iQvrM7K5](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/1/obama-now-says-obamacare-will-bring-months-glitche/#ixzz2iQvrM7K5) “We have had a few slowdowns, a few glitches, but it’s sort of a great problem to have,” Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday on MSNBC. “It’s based on the fact that the volume has been so high.” > **[Administration blames Obamacare glitches on high volume - UPI.com](https://www.upi.com/blog/2013/10/07/Obamacare-glitches-blamed-on-high-interest/2871381159548/)** > > The Obama administration pointed to unexpectedly large volume of users in the new online federal health insurance exchanges that went live in a bumpy rollout last week. "These bugs were functions of volume,‘’ Park said. "Take away the volume and it works.‘’ Guess what. Three weeks later, volume is way down, site still doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/578 "2013-10-22T07:46:11Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/1/obama-now-says-obamacare-will-bring-months-glitche/#ixzz2iQvrM7K5](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/1/obama-now-says-obamacare-will-bring-months-glitche/#ixzz2iQvrM7K5) > > “We have had a few slowdowns, a few glitches, but it’s sort of a great problem to have,” Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday on MSNBC. “It’s based on the fact that the volume has been so high.” > > [Administration blames Obamacare glitches on high volume - UPI.com](http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/10/07/Obamacare-glitches-blamed-on-high-interest/2871381159548/) > > "These bugs were functions of volume,‘’ Park said. "Take away the volume and it works.‘’ > > Guess what. Three weeks later, volume is way down, site still doesn’t work. Not the point and \*\*adaher \*\*also misses as usual. Back then it was very likely that they were correct, not a lie. It would be if they would continue to say so. In essence it is still dumb spin and a denial of time lines as usual from the right wing sources. BTW, I did register last week, claiming that “it does not work” is not the whole truth. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/579 "2013-10-22T07:52:03Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Not the point and \*\*adaher \*\*also misses as usual. Back then it was very likely that they were correct, not a lie. Back then Sibelius was right that the unavailability of the web site is “a great problem to have”? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/580 "2013-10-22T08:04:11Z")
GIGO, are you saying that the site was working fine except for volume up until a week ago? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/581 "2013-10-22T08:12:48Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Back then Sibelius was right that the unavailability of the web site is “a great problem to have”? Now that is really silly, denial of service issues when there is a lot of traffic is a well known problem that even large private organizations suffer at launch time. It is even more silly when one big reason for an issue like that to pop up **and mask other problems** was caused in part by the same groups that oppose the law. > **[Fox Deflects From GOP Role In HealthCare.gov Problems](https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-friends/fox-deflects-gop-role-healthcaregov-problems)** > [@](#): > > Media have examined the design problems plaguing [HealthCare.gov](http://HealthCare.gov) since its launch on October 1 that are causing delays for millions of Americans who have tried accessing the website, problems that the Obama administration has acknowledged and is working to fix. Reports show that the problems started years ago. > > States had to notify the federal government by mid-February if they intended to create their own exchanges. A February 18 post on The Washington Post’s Wonkblog explained that nearly all of the states that failed to set up their own exchanges were Republican-led, as demonstrated by the following graph: > > Partisan breakdown of health insurance exchanges > > Media reports show that this partisan decision by Republican governors has contributed to the federal government’s problems launching [HealthCare.gov](http://HealthCare.gov), but Fox has already worked to prevent Republicans from shouldering any of the blame for those issues. Discussing a speech that President Obama was scheduled to give later that day, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade said on October 21: > > > [@](#): > > > > KILMEADE: I just have a hunch that there will be some element of this whether he’ll say, “If it wasn’t for Republicans fighting it the whole time, if it wasn’t for people pushing back on it, it would have been a lot easier.” I think somehow that’s going to be twisted in there. > > On October 18, Fox’s digital politics editor Chris Stirewalt said, after predicting that the White House will react to the problems by pointing to Republican opposition, that “it doesn’t matter what the Republicans do”: > > > [@](#): > > > > ``` > > STIREWALT: They'd say it is the Republicans' fault. They'd say that if Republicans were not harassing and attacking the law, if everybody just could get behind it and say that it was going to be great, that it would be better and all of that stuff. It doesn't really wash. Once the president embraced the title Obamacare, that had been -- Democrats had previously said was pejorative -- once he said, yeah, it is Obamacare, Obama cares, he said, when he was run for reelection, it doesn't matter what the Republicans do, this is his baby. > > > > ``` > > Media reports on [HealthCare.gov](http://HealthCare.gov)’s problems have explained that the decision by Republican governors to saddle the federal government with the responsibility of running exchanges in their states created a much bigger burden for the federal government. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561.md?page=28) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561.md?page=30)