Obamacare’s failure to launch continues. Though the health care reforms have become the punchline for Saturday Night Live jokes, many of its effects are no laughing matter.
Obama Administration memos reveal that just six people signed up for Obamacare on the first day. The figures stand in stark contrast to the website visit totals touted by Administration officials as evidence of the new law’s success.
The centerpiece of the new law, the website HealthCare.gov, remains deeply troubled. The site will now be down for troubleshooting on a “nightly” basis for much of the month of November so that officials can make the necessary repairs. Though the sign-up process can also be completed over the phone or via paper applications, new reports indicate that the computer system underpinning these conduits is the same as that on the website, meaning that delays are likely continue.
But the Wall Street Journal carries a sad reminder that Obamacare’s underlying problems aren’t contained in website code, but rather in the new law’s design. California resident Edie Littlefield Sundby is battling Stage-4 Gallbladder cancer but, as she describes, she is a “loser” in the new health care reform:
Before the Affordable Care Act, health-insurance policies could not be sold across state lines; now policies sold on the Affordable Care Act exchanges may not be offered across county lines. What happened to the president’s promise, “You can keep your health plan”? Or to the promise that “You can keep your doctor”? Thanks to the law, I have been forced to give up a world-class health plan. The exchange would force me to give up a world-class physician.
Health care reform is struggling already and if Ms. Sundby’s experience proves common, there remains more chaos ahead.
