Minnesota's ACA Exchange Site is Working Better Now

My wife had trouble registering on the MNCare site early after it opened. I suggested she wait a couple of weeks to see if things got fixed. Yesterday, she registered with no problem and is now looking at available plans, etc.

That said, the site isn't all that well designed, and the process is way too complex. Too many redundant requests for the same information, depending on what you're doing on the site, and the forms don't have enough explanation of options from which you have to choose. That has led to a few times requiring backing up and redoing things for my wife, and she's a very experienced Internet user who writes about website design and usability issues. The problem is going to be even worse for people who don't spend their lives on the Internet and people who are using this system in some library or other public location.

Still, the system is working, so some of the early bugs and issues appear to have been worked out. I'm afraid, though, that some of the people who need this the most are going to face frustration and may even bail out of the process, due to its repetitiveness and complexity. That's not a good thing. There is human help available, but some may not have the technology required to access it, since most of it is telephone-based.

I imagine that changes are going to be needed, along with locations where people can go and get personal assistance in getting signed up on this complex, clumsy system.