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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe so called story that is spreading like wildfire.. only 6 signed up for Obamacare in the 1st 24
First as I understand it... Many states had there own web site to sign up for Obamacare.. On these sites thousands signed up on the 1st day.. But the media does not seem to what to count those.. Can not let facts get in the way of a good story .. now can we? Each state was supposed to have its own site.. but because so many states with republican governors refused to participate all those states had to use the federal default site.. That site failed.. and what is ironic is the congress failed to allocate more money to make that site more robust as it became apparent the load that site was going to need to be able to handle.. HHS asked, pleaded, begged for more money to make that site better.. but money was refused.. Is it amazing.. the republicans planned and executed a rip off of the American people.. yet due to a lazy media get almost no blame..
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)indicating the number of 'unique visitors' to healthcare.gov... who cares how many signed up, if the website was having problems it could well have been volume. and if that is the case, then just show the report and shut down the argument about '6 signed up'...
sP
Mass
(27,315 posts)First, Obamacare refers I guess to the exchange, not Medicaid expansion or something like that.
Second, people think before they commit to enrolling in something. So only people who think that people are stupid would think they would enroll the first day.
cali
(114,904 posts)refuse to acknowledge facts.
and no, it's decidedly not stupid to expect people to sign up on the first day.
dsc
(52,166 posts)this is an expensive major decision that they have months to make. I am not in a position to use the exchange but took a look anyway and I would have had well over a dozen policies from which to choose. I can easily see wanting to print out the policies and look at the numbers, taking time to decide which is likely to be the better deal in the end.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)wait until December 15 to buy when they know their finances better?
Pretzel_Warrior
(8,361 posts)Sorry you think differently.
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)had anything to do with it.
Mass
(27,315 posts)From Fox own report
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/31/internal-notes-indicate-only-6-people-signed-up-for-obamacare-on-first-day/
Fox News' Ed Henry told Megyn Kelly on The Kelly File Thursday that the documents, released by committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, are not official enrollment numbers, but say that as of the morning of Oct. 2, six enrollments have occurred so far with five different issuers.
liberal N proud
(60,339 posts)I saw this on a local ABC affiliate news program this AM.
Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)I wonder how many people signed up for Social Security in the first six hours?
My point is, who gives a rat's ass? Twenty years from now, we'll have comprehensive health care for all Americans (maybe even a single payer system by then), and nobody will remember who signed up for what in the first six hours.
B Calm
(28,762 posts)RockaFowler
(7,429 posts)It's such a non-story it's almost laughable
Laurian
(2,593 posts)warrior1
(12,325 posts)it was just the first day. There will be many days after that to sign up.
what a waste of ink
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)frazzled
(18,402 posts)of its start date.
Why doesn't it surprise me that millions didn't purchase their policies in the first day or two? The policies don't go into effect until January 2014, and there are a lot of options and issues to consider in taking such a step. Especially for those who have never been insured.
I remember when Medicare Part D went into effect: it took us months to decide on what plan to purchase for my husband's mother. It was complex, confusing, and scary. It took lots of research to decide which policy had formularies that covered the drugs she was on, which best suited her other insurance, etc. We took our time.
This is not to say that the web site wasn't experiencing lots of problems, but this is just such a non-story on so many levels.
gopiscrap
(23,763 posts)so of course the narrative on corporate tv is going to be "fail" when it's done by a Democratic administration. Truth to them or the repukes doesn't matter.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,436 posts)is getting tiresome. What irks me more is that instead of talking about what might be done to make things better, the stories seem to imply that the whole law is a mess and that it should never have happened in the first place. I'll be the first to admit that it ain't perfect but changing around a previously failed system for a lot of people takes some time and effort. The media and the Republicans just want to deep-six everything and, I guess, go back to what we had before?
My wife was watching a breathtaking CNN report on how few insurers there were participating in the exchanges.......in smaller states. Well duh! They're smaller states!
krispos42
(49,445 posts)My uncle was watching it this morning. We had a death in the family, and he was staying over after the funeral.
He was watching it while exercising, and I saw the story on the TV. Neither of us really watched it; he's a teacher and he was griping about standardized testing and teacher accountability stuff.
I figured it was bullshit. glad to see I was right.
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)I didn't even bother to read it
alc
(1,151 posts)If it had been 1 million signed up the first day the spin would be the other way and we honestly wouldn't have any more idea of the eventual success than we do now. Both sides are going to spin whatever they can.
We won't know anything for a long time. There will be lot of spin again in Jan 2014 when people start to use their coverage. Ignore that too (whichever way it goes) - some people will get care for the first time in years or ever and be thrilled while other people will be really pissed off for a variety of reasons. In 6-8 months we will probably get some relatively unspun reports of how many people signed up and how satisfied they are.
And more spin next October when 2015 enrollment starts. Then we'll see which insurers want to keep offering on the exchange and what rates the regulators allow. There will be tons of spin then also with elections right around the corner.
The worst thing that could happen is for the administration to try to spin things as much better than they are. You don't want voters next october thinking "what the hell happened. I thought everything was going great". With the web site issues and delayed deadline, there is a very real chance that healthy people don't sign up until March and the result will be some insurers dropping out of the exchange and rates going up next October. Obama shouldn't be talking about that now, but needs to be saying things over the next year that won't lead to major disappointment then. If things go great over the next few months that communication plan can change (e.g. start bragging).
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)Media chasers care, while serious people working on policy continue with their work. This is sideshow for morons, and of little consequence.