Two days ago, president Obama said something in his press conference that has not gotten sufficient attention. Here is what he said:
[A]nother mistake that we made, I think, was underestimating the difficulties of people purchasing insurance online and shopping for a lot of options with a lot of costs and lot of different benefits and plans and somehow expecting that that would be very smooth, and then they’ve also got to try to apply for tax credits on the website.
Now this is not the most artful expression of the problems, but it is a recognition finally that shopping for insurance on line is not something that is easy or simple even if the website works (which it still does not). I was struck by that truth again just this morning when I was speaking to someone who had just been trying to buy insurance on the New York exchange site. New York is one of those state sites that is supposed to be working fine. The person with whom I spoke was sitting with her daughter going over policies that the daughter could buy. Before I tell you of their experience, let me give you some background. These two women are intelligent and well educated. Both have graduate degrees. They are both quite computer literate. They clearly understood what the site said and they both knew well how to navigate around the site. The bottom line regarding their experience, however, was that they were unable to buy insurance because they just could not get the necessary information. The policies for sale offered in-network coverage only, but they did not tell buyers which doctors and hospitals were in the network. Some of the policies offered dental coverage, but again did not say which dentists would accept that insurance. The policies each had high annual deductibles, but the site did not explain how the deductible was calculated. For example, prescriptions had specified co-pay amounts, but it was unclear if those co-pays started from the first purchase or only kicked in once the deductible was reached.
My point in relating the experience of these two women is just to show how confusing it is to buy health insurance, particularly on line. When the web site used only has half the needed information, it changes the experience from confusing to maddening. But this is what Obama and the Obamacrats decided would be the best thing for the entire country.
My guess is that fewer than 2% of the congressmen and senators who voted for Obamacare had bought their own health insurance during the previous five years and that none of them had ever bought insurance on line. They just knew that buying things on line was trendy and thought it would be a good thing. They did not consider the millions of Americans who do not ordinarily have access to the internet. Nor did they consider the millions more who have access but who are not comfortable using computers. Nor did they consider the folks who could go on line but who would not be able easily to understand what is said on the site. And then, they forgot that even for well educated, computer savvy folks buying a product like health insurance on line is complicated and exasperating.
As Americans, we have the right to expect that our president, senators and congressmen will actually consider how their actions and the actions of the federal government will affect us. We have the right to expect reasoned decisions from these folks. Instead we got lies and a total lack of caring. The motto of Obamacare truly is Nancy Pelosi's line that "we have to pass the bill to find out what is in it." Well now we all know, and the truth isn't pretty.
[A]nother mistake that we made, I think, was underestimating the difficulties of people purchasing insurance online and shopping for a lot of options with a lot of costs and lot of different benefits and plans and somehow expecting that that would be very smooth, and then they’ve also got to try to apply for tax credits on the website.
Now this is not the most artful expression of the problems, but it is a recognition finally that shopping for insurance on line is not something that is easy or simple even if the website works (which it still does not). I was struck by that truth again just this morning when I was speaking to someone who had just been trying to buy insurance on the New York exchange site. New York is one of those state sites that is supposed to be working fine. The person with whom I spoke was sitting with her daughter going over policies that the daughter could buy. Before I tell you of their experience, let me give you some background. These two women are intelligent and well educated. Both have graduate degrees. They are both quite computer literate. They clearly understood what the site said and they both knew well how to navigate around the site. The bottom line regarding their experience, however, was that they were unable to buy insurance because they just could not get the necessary information. The policies for sale offered in-network coverage only, but they did not tell buyers which doctors and hospitals were in the network. Some of the policies offered dental coverage, but again did not say which dentists would accept that insurance. The policies each had high annual deductibles, but the site did not explain how the deductible was calculated. For example, prescriptions had specified co-pay amounts, but it was unclear if those co-pays started from the first purchase or only kicked in once the deductible was reached.
My point in relating the experience of these two women is just to show how confusing it is to buy health insurance, particularly on line. When the web site used only has half the needed information, it changes the experience from confusing to maddening. But this is what Obama and the Obamacrats decided would be the best thing for the entire country.
My guess is that fewer than 2% of the congressmen and senators who voted for Obamacare had bought their own health insurance during the previous five years and that none of them had ever bought insurance on line. They just knew that buying things on line was trendy and thought it would be a good thing. They did not consider the millions of Americans who do not ordinarily have access to the internet. Nor did they consider the millions more who have access but who are not comfortable using computers. Nor did they consider the folks who could go on line but who would not be able easily to understand what is said on the site. And then, they forgot that even for well educated, computer savvy folks buying a product like health insurance on line is complicated and exasperating.
As Americans, we have the right to expect that our president, senators and congressmen will actually consider how their actions and the actions of the federal government will affect us. We have the right to expect reasoned decisions from these folks. Instead we got lies and a total lack of caring. The motto of Obamacare truly is Nancy Pelosi's line that "we have to pass the bill to find out what is in it." Well now we all know, and the truth isn't pretty.
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