Videos: ObamaCare rollout performance ... "lower than projected"

“Lower than projected” was, of course, the Orwellian description from HHS of skyrocketing premiums last week, approved for today’s rollout of ObamaCare.  It’s also a good way to describe today’s rollout of ObamaCare itself, with exchange and support websites looking like this:

Advertisement

In Minnesota, even Paul Bunyan can’t hack his way into MNSure’s computers with his giant axe:

Consumers won’t be able to use Minnesota’s new online marketplace for health insurance as planned Tuesday morning and will have to wait until sometime in the afternoon, the head of the state-run exchange said Monday.

April Todd-Malmlov, executive director of MNsure, said officials want to make sure the system connects properly with federal computer systems and that it’s secure before it goes live for consumers. MNsure officials had been saying for months they expected consumers could start signing up at the start of the business day Tuesday. She said they weren’t sure what time in the afternoon the system would be ready.

Enrollment begins Tuesday nationwide for coverage under the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act. Roughly 300,000 uninsured Minnesotans are expected to buy insurance via the portal. The delay is one of several glitches in MNsure’s rollout that Todd-Malmlov spoke about late Monday afternoon.

“Generally, anytime you go into a new enterprise there are things you expect and things you deal with that are a bit unanticipated,” Todd-Malmlov said. “So we have always been planning to be up on October 1. We do need to do that in coordination with our federal partners, and we want to make sure that we are doing that in a planned and not-rushed way to make sure that everything is ready to go and working on Day 1.”

Advertisement

“Pieces will come together” by, er … Day 5 or so. Maybe. It’s not just Minnesota, either.  Oregon has its problems, too — and it will be down for weeks.  So will the Connecticut exchange (via TWS):

You know what might have helped? A delay. Nevertheless, Barack Obama plans to start trotting out exchange customers as political props immediately:

President Barack Obama will continue his no-compromise budget strategy Tuesday when he holds a mid-day meeting with supposed beneficiaries of his landmark health care law.

“The President will meet with Americans who will benefit from the opening of Health Insurance Marketplaces and being able to comparison shop for the health plans as a result of the Affordable Care Act,” says the White House’s calendar for Oct. 1, the first day of the 2014 budget. …

Obama will likely to use the public meeting with Obamacare recipients to push his no-compromise strategy.

Based on initial government-prepared reports, White House officials and Democrats claim that several million Americans will be able to buy cheaper, government-defined insurance via federally-run marketplaces.

However, free-market advocates say the government’s insurance prices are higher than current prices, especially for young people and married people, and that the quality, availability and proximity of government-approved medical services are likely to be inferior than the ones available today.

Advertisement

Maybe he can start with the consumers who can actually access the exchanges and execute a purchase, but then he’d have to wait a few weeks for his photo op.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement