Obamacare: The Sequel Isn't Looking Much Better

Who knows? Maybe they'll pull it off this time. It's only the first day. But that's what Obama administration officials said last year when the the first day of Healthcare.gov was a disaster. Look at what's happening in a few states.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Insurers involved in HealthCare.gov’s testing said fixes were still continuing as of Friday. In a handful of states that run their own enrollment marketplaces, officials have poured millions of dollars into upgrades and have yet to fix technology flaws that could foil consumer sign-ups.

Minnesota took its exchange offline this week for testing after making some fixes, and planned to direct certain consumers with major life changes to a call center, because a piece of the site isn’t complete. Maryland won’t launch statewide online enrollment until Nov. 19 and is limiting Saturday sign-ups to a single onsite event. In Vermont, some consumers who want to renew coverage won’t be able to do so online because the technology isn’t ready.

And this from the Associated Press, via ABC News on Washington State:

Washington's health care exchange shut down after the first few hours of open enrollment Saturday as state officials and software engineers tried to resolve a problem with tax credit calculations.

Officials at the exchange said Washington Healthplanfinder, which opened at 8 a.m., appeared to be working fine at first. When the exchange's quality control system reported the problem, they decided to shut the whole system down at about 10:30 a.m. to fix it. ... On Saturday afternoon, officials estimated the site wouldn't reopen until Sunday morning, but the actual timing will depend on how soon a software fix can be tested for potential side-effects.

Bad News for Obama, and Romney Too – ObamneyCare Down

The Massachusetts health care system was held up as the national model for Obamacare, and it made perfect political sense because it had the blessing of the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama (Credit: WhiteHouse.gov)

Now the exchange for RomneyCare, signed into law in 2006 by then-Gov. Mitt Romney, has collapsed. While it might have been the pioneer laying the groundwork for the national boondoggle, it’s only the third state system to collapse since the federal government moved in. 

But Massachusetts carries major significance on the health care issue because as recently as last year, President Obama was heralding his own health care plan in Boston by proclaiming the similarities between the state and federal laws.

Even though Romney campaigned in 2012 on repealing Obamacare, the collapse doesn’t reflect well on his legacy as governor. And nothing seems to reflect well for the president regarding Obamcare, except the sketchy enrollment figures that no Democrat outside the White House seems anxious to touch.

From the New York Times:

 

Massachusetts will stop trying to fix its deeply flawed health insurance website and instead buy new software to help its residents enroll in coverage, officials there said Monday. But the state will also prepare to join the federal insurance marketplace by the next enrollment period, which starts in November, in case the new system is not working in time.

In fairness to Romney, the Times says:

The site worked well until it was revamped last year to comply with the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s health care law.

Since Obamacare was enacted, the health care exchanges in Oregon and Maryland imploded. Meanwhile the states of Hawaii, Nevada and Vermont have experienced extreme difficulties in getting their sites going.