The Caucus
Some State Insurance Exchanges Continue to Battle Technical Problems http://nyti.ms/1eK7XTh
This is bad news. This includes Maryland. I see many problems with Maryland's system and have not seen much in the way of advice on how to handle this. Maryland needs to provide more guidance under the circumstances. How do we get the State to do so. For instance, I see folks who cannot create an online account. Is this a Maryland or Federal problem.
In the meantime, Steve Morse's site can be very helpful. It allows folks to at least see what their options, costs, tax credits, etc. are and, thus, provides encouragement to potential enrollees. It is getting high praise in some very important corners. See previous blog
http://tinyurl.com/hraplanfinder
Kinda feels like freefall. RT @politico: Obamacare glitches shadowing Medicaid, via @kyledcheney: http://politi.co/1do1AkO
One question is could we separate Medicaid out from the Federal and State
exchanges and have folks sign up directly with Medicaid. Some States
are doing that. Perhaps all should.
2) If you like it, you can keep it. - The challenge of this promise
Charles Ornstein
"I had a feeling my cost would go up, but I was floored when I saw that it was an 87.7% increase." http://touch.latimes.com
So what is the solution to this dilemma. I do not have an answer and neither does Obama right now. I do not think we want folks to continue bad policies. At the same time, large rate increases are a very difficult answer. Furthermore, Congress may not be able to pass any acceptable legislation to solve this. Obama may need to come up with an administrative fix. Any thoughts? Perhaps extend the current plans for a short period of time until a more permanent fix is in place. Can that be done?
3) Other issues
I see lots of other issues both Federally and in Maryland. I will try to compile the issues and some of my suggestions which I have made in previous blog postings.
I just updated this with a couple of comments.
ReplyDelete