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The Real Reasons Why Obamacare Exchanges Aren't Working Yet - Wendell Potter
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendell-potter/the-real-reasons-why-obam_b_4136549.htmlHere are four possible reasons for the current mess:
• HHS wasted valuable time trying to persuade more states to operate their own exchanges. Officials apparently deluded themselves into thinking that even some of the red states could be persuaded that it would be in their best interests to have a state-run exchange than one run by the federal government. In hindsight, those officials wasted months in which time and resources could have been devoted to making sure the federal exchange would work on Oct. 1. HHS officials should have realized from the beginning that Republican governors and state legislators had no incentive for Obamacare to work. There wasn't a chance that they would operate their own exchanges if doing so might enhance the chances that Obamacare would be perceived as a success.
• The administration waited too long to issue important regulations pertaining to the law. HHS clearly didn't want to announce some of the more controversial regulations until after the 2012 midterm election. Those postponements decreased the chances that insurers and the companies hired to build and operate the federal exchange could have everything in place and working perfectly by Oct. 1.
• It made a mistake by requiring that visitors to the website first set up an account before beginning to shop for coverage. Some states operating their own exchanges didn't do this, which, again in hindsight, was a wise decision. Setting up the accounts at the front end has proven to be a system-crashing undertaking. Apparently only a lucky few have been able to get through the account set-up phase and actually begin the real process of choosing a health plan.
• There are simply too many moving parts -- and too many health plan options. Not only are there several insurers offering an array of policies in most states, there are four levels of coverage -- bronze, silver, gold and platinum -- all with varying premiums and coinsurance obligations. Members of Congress who wrote the law fell for the insurance industry's propaganda that "choice and competition" are what the American people need and want. No, it is what the insurance industry wants. When people do get past the account set-up phase, they have to spend considerable time trying to make sense of the various choices -- far more than most employers offer their workers.
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I'm concerned with how much help their giving Wolf Blitzer, Joe Scarboro, and every other hack in the MSM when it comes to trying to make the launch look like a failure.
Single-payer. 
Insurance Execs as a whole make the hair on the back of my neck stand up, but he seems to be reasonable and trying to 'do the right thing' since he left CIGNA.
Wonder why? 
