tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post4679871460726756961..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: HealthCare.gov, Amazon, and Health Care as Normal PoliticsJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-44751036772462147572013-12-05T08:49:37.952-06:002013-12-05T08:49:37.952-06:00In California, which has provided more numbers tha...In California, which has provided more numbers than other places, young people have been signing up in proportion to their share of the population. The problem, I imagine, is that young people in, say, Louisiana or Alabama or wherever have been getting a different message and may not try. Still, I don't think the system requires anything like full compliance from day one to survive. Eventually, more people will see the benefit of it.Scott Monjenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-57930450241388413002013-12-05T06:44:03.456-06:002013-12-05T06:44:03.456-06:00I blame it on the perils of stream of consciousnes...I blame it on the perils of stream of consciousness - the first part of my post was supposed to say "you have to register your vehicle in order to drive it <i>legally</i>" - I trust that clarifies?<br /><br />On the young healthies - its interesting that ACA supporters assume compliance from those folks, for obvious reasons, perhaps. Suppose we treated their compliance not as a given but rather as the variable it surely is. And then suppose we had a brainstorming session, trying to come up with the most self-defeating ACA marketing effort to young healthies, especially since 'penalty avoidance' is not really a motivation for those folks in deciding whether to sign up or not.<br /><br />Considering that the official website is the (bit)coin of the realm for those young healthies, its sobering to consider there aren't many - really, maybe not any - imaginable marketing fiascoes bigger than the website roll-out as it actually occurred.CSHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-54511358998563342202013-12-05T00:24:46.827-06:002013-12-05T00:24:46.827-06:00Don't get your first paragraph. I'm prett...Don't get your first paragraph. I'm pretty sure that a lot of peope drive unregistered cars, drive without a license, etc.<br /><br />Strongly agree with the last paragraph. As go the young healthies, so goes ACA.Morgan Conradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08488994506896975339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-22661517924847239562013-12-04T20:38:43.122-06:002013-12-04T20:38:43.122-06:00I'm wondering how many people are having my ex...I'm wondering how many people are having my exchange/insurance experience. Maybe relatively few, but might be worth trying to track.<br />I've been on the private insurance market for about a dozen years. I don' qualify for a subsidy.<br />I shopped the state exchange here, MNSure, and found a few plans that looked acceptable. Then I shopped some of the approved state insurance providers on their own company sites. By far the plan that suits me best is a plan outside the exchange, but that I can access because under ACA, I don't have to answer any health questions.<br />Overall, I consider myself to be a fantastic ACA success story ~ I'm getting a zero deductible, 10% conisurance plan for $105/month less than the expensive but what I viewed as great plan that has been canceled.<br />But as a non-exchange customer, will anyone even notice? Will this be chalked up anywhere as a proper functioning of ACA, namely that competition drove down prices and guaranteed issue meant I just had to shop benefits and prices, not who would take my 48 year old mildly flawed person-ness?RalfWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-74614312025545860292013-12-04T19:51:13.342-06:002013-12-04T19:51:13.342-06:00One essential difference between the ACA and the D...One essential difference between the ACA and the DMV: you have to register your vehicle in order to drive it; you don't *have* to get health insurance in the exchange. Oh, you're supposed to, certainly. And you get a slap-on-the-wrist penalty if you don't. Regardless, the obligation is vastly different between the two.<br /><br />Will the disastrous launch of the website be a significant factor preventing a critical mass of young healthies from signing up? Moot point, surely. If its true, as many fear, that the critical mass of young healthies don't <i>want</i> to sign up, the appalling web site is a real concern. <br /><br />At this point, I think its probably a tautology that, if substantially all the young healthies sign up, the ACA will work well enough not to be a complete failure. So if our one remaining fear is the dreaded death spiral, while the flawed web site may not matter, that's far from obvious at this point.CSHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-72484408245048778222013-12-04T18:35:17.781-06:002013-12-04T18:35:17.781-06:00But in Los Angeles, for the last eight or ten year...But in Los Angeles, for the last eight or ten years, you've been able to make an appointment online in advance (and also, in a city that size, to choose among various locations). So I always breezed past the intake queue and was served within a few minutes of my appointment time.Jeffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-21149959920790889622013-12-04T16:17:30.023-06:002013-12-04T16:17:30.023-06:00The website issues got ACA off to a shaky start, b...The website issues got ACA off to a shaky start, but it will improve. In the long run, ACA success will be judged by its results.<br /><br />Harry Reid exempting some of his staff from ACA just provided some great ammo to the Republicans. Especially when just last night on the PBS Newshour, Brad Woodhouse was arguing that all Democrats are fully united behind ACA, not running away, yada yada. It smelled funny to me then and stinks today. Essentially, I will never trust Americans United for Change again. His talking points lasted less than a day...Morgan Conradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08488994506896975339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-5908567257692023492013-12-04T16:08:12.218-06:002013-12-04T16:08:12.218-06:00When I first moved to Jersey in 97, the DMV was th...When I first moved to Jersey in 97, the DMV was the most dysfunctional government office I'd ever been in -- pathological, really, with personnel abusing citizens. It's completely cleaned up - orderly, professional.Andrew Sprunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-2774967414194601622013-12-04T16:05:07.333-06:002013-12-04T16:05:07.333-06:00DMV in CA has gotten much better. Only one line wh...DMV in CA has gotten much better. Only one line when you get in to get routed, then you get a little alpha-numeric ID, and wait in chairs to get called via a monitor/announcement. That's if you have to go to the DMV, which is somewhat rarer with a number of things you can do via mail/online. <br /><br />That said, if you have to go in person, and the budget is bad (so they've cut back the hours)...yikes. Set aside that whole morning, if not more.Matt Jarvisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-29950680849153485072013-12-04T14:59:08.524-06:002013-12-04T14:59:08.524-06:00The DMV experience in New York has improved immens...The DMV experience in New York has improved immensely, although I think the wait may have begun to lengthen again.Scott Monjenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-46143450800861985052013-12-04T13:58:57.046-06:002013-12-04T13:58:57.046-06:00@DMV: Depends. I had reasonably decent experience...@DMV: Depends. I had reasonably decent experiences in Maine two or three years ago, but Ohio has been hellish for me. For example, when getting my car registration changed over, I had two different clerks make three separate mistakes with copying over the VIN number in two attempts. Of course, I only had to make two attempts because the DMV folks were extra persnickity and rejected a fully notarized transferred title.theBitterFignoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-34724170385976821382013-12-04T13:27:06.683-06:002013-12-04T13:27:06.683-06:00Just because ACA repeal is impossible at this poin...Just because ACA repeal is impossible at this point does not mean that the GOP will stop insisting that it is the Death of Freedom Itself and must be stopped now now now.<br /><br />If anything, ACA repeal might become a generation-long obsession for Republican office-seekers, generating oodles of campaign dollars while imposing very little responsibility on the candidate, because repeal will always be just tantalizingly out of reach.<br /><br />Similar to the way that Roe v. Wade, which was an unequivocal policy victory for liberals, provided conservatives with a ready-made boogeyman to rile up voters.<br /><br />So, no, this battle isn't over - even though, to anyone paying attention, the outcome has already been decided.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com