WEBlue

I know there's already a thread entitled Obamacare, but that seems to have devolved into a political discussion.... My problem is with the nuts & bolts of the ACA application itself.

The husband (retired) & I have health coverage through a European subsidiary of his former international employer, and it's expensive as well as cumbersome to use in this country. Plus it doesn't cover some preventative stuff that the ACA seems to cover.

Last year I tried to explore possibilities under the ACA & got nowhere very fast on the website. This year I got a bit further in before my application bollocksed itself up. I've so far rung two "help" numbers, both of which seem to say the "help" I need MUST be provided by the persons at the other number.... Sigh...

Anyone else ready to tear their hair out over this?

Michael

For the federal marketplace, according to news reports there has been very few reported problems but I believe that you are on the Connecticut exchange so any responses may not be relevant.

WEBlue

Yes, I'm on a state-run website. The website is definitely working better than last year, but eventually it has stopped dead on more than one problem that I can't seem to get around.

One problem is that the company we get our foreign health insurance through seems to have no US tax ID# or US address....

Nutmegger

I'm afraid all I can say is patience, patience, patience! My OH also uses the CT exchange, and it was hard work to get set up, but the benefits were worth it. He also is trying to update for 2015, and is being driven mad by site anomalies -- before the site will let him see his options for 2015, it wants him to say he is cancelling his current coverage, which of course he won't do until he knows that the other options might be! Just keep trying to get a live person . . .

WEBlue

Yes, "site anomalies" is a rather nice, diplomatic term for the roadblocks this site has put me through since I first tried to log on Saturday!

Another problem is that my husband changed his name years ago (very slightly), but we discovered that he forgot to notify Social Security of this, so in the course of my trying to correct this the online application has decided I have two husbands....

I actually managed to speak to two human beings yesterday, but neither could help me, directing me back to the other one... !! So far today both numbers are so busy I can't even get to the automatic menu any more. Give me strength.

sir_eccles

Not sure of the situation in CT but I believe many public libraries will have a healthcare navigator or know where to find one. Perhaps face to face help would be better than on the phone.

WEBlue

Thanks for your input, SE. I forgot to mention there was another human being I spoke to today, making three.

It so happens there is a CAC (Certified Application Counselor), not a Healthcare Navigator but close, in our local hospital. She says unfortunately a CAC like her can't access the online application to fix it. She also said that once you have started an application, there's no way to void it and start another. She gave me one of the two "help" numbers with which I'm playing phone tag now.

My closest Health Navigator is located over an hour away, so I'm hoping not to have to be forced to go there...but I may be....

Nutmegger

I think a Navigator is great if you don't understand what your options are, but I think that if the site would just behave properly you would have no problem -- yet again, the problem is with the site. As with the roll out earlier this year, I think that it will get sorted out in time as I'm sure that right now they are deluged with complaints about the malfunctions.

WEBlue

I agree. I think that the Navigators sort of hold your hand & walk you through a new application. Not sure they can correct an application that is as hung up as mine seems to be.

One (or both?) of the phone numbers I have been trying all day is supposed to have someone at the other end who can actually access and input into the online application I've started.

Michael

I suspect what happened was that the state evaluated the program after last years enrolment period and decided that there should be changes made to make it more user friendly and reliable and contracted the work to be done. From a programmer's viewpoint, software maintenance is one of the least interesting and most boring jobs around. The contractor also needs the good developers for other projects and if the contractor uses the weaker programmers he'll save money since they are paid less so the job is assigned to it's weakest programmers. After all, the changes are minor so even with weak programmers, it should be a walk in the park.

However that is not the way it works in the real world. Weak programmers can cause more problems than they actually solve.

Now that the state has probably been getting more problem calls this year than they got during the end of the open enrolment period last year, they are probably breathing down the neck of the contractor to solve the problems. First the contractor will try to solve the problems with his weak programmers until the state gets fed up and then the contractor will bring in their good programmers and the problems will start to be solved.

Nutmegger

I hope you're right! My OH spent an hour on the phone trying to sort out his status this morning, and was then cut off and has been unable to get the rep back. In the meantime, online it is indicating that he no longer wants coverage. Never a dull moment with the ACA!

a18ion

If you're collecting experiences... at the Covered CA site, for reasons I can't fathom, it believed we had changed our citizenship/immigration info. So it asked us to consent to the changes and explain why (e.g. acquired USC, etc.), and the effective date of the change. I could see no changes in our file so chose Other as the reason and a 1/1/14 as the effective date of that "change". After that it would let us move forward. Very weird.

Applied for a policy, and have heard nothing since, not even a confirmation email.

OnwardandUpward

I'm leaving my application until after Thanksgiving ( so I don't ruin the holiday! ) but I plan to look for a session at the library or somewhere where I can sign up, take copies of my info etc.

Good luck- I know it's a nightmare.

Michael

I suspect the Connecticut web site was enhance but without proper oversight. Healthcare.gov was also enhanced but it appears with much better oversight than last year.

About 100,000 Americans have visited HealthCare.gov since Saturday and submitted new applications for health insurance coverage, Health and Human Service Secretary Sylvia Burwell said Sunday. She added that about 500,000 people who already have health insurance were able to successfully log on and view their accounts

Sylvia Burwell: HealthCare.gov working well, 100,000 signed up this weekend - Washington Times

kins

Once I managed to reset my password (having got myself locked out by entering the wrong one several times) I've had no problems so far.

I've set up an application for me and the kids. Removed the kids from it. Added my citizenship certificate number which I hadn't put in originally.

Now I just need to choose a plan and enroll. Is this the stage where it's going wrong for people?