Friday, September 20, 2013

Health Exchange Fun - Part 1



So I have heard that the Obamacare Exchanges were going to open soon, so I took a little stroll over there to see what it was all about. I was greeted by this young smiling lady:


Who is she and what does she have to do with Obamacare? A Google image search of her did not reveal any matches. I looked carefully at her earrings, and the appear to have letters in them - 'SMMM'. Could that mean 'Sons of Mary Mother of Mercy'? Probably not. I guess it's her initials - so i'll call her 'Samantha'. So Samantha, can I call you Sam? Yes? Good. I am interested in getting health insurance. Ah, I see you have a link over there to 'Get Insurance'. I'll click on that. Goodbye, and thanks for all the help!



More pictures of smiling people! This time two ladies, perhaps a mother and daughter? There is still no explanation of what they have to do with healthcare insurance but there must be something about this site that is making everyone smile! I guess they aren't worried about being kicked to the curb when their employer drops their coverage (hereherehere) . When I clicked on "Small Business", I found this lady, who apparently couldn't put down her phone long enough to have her picture taken:


I'm guessing the message here is that Obamacare doesn't include dental care. I have to say, as a middle aged white guy, I am starting to feel a little awkward, like I wondered into the wrong bathroom or something...

I then went to the 'Choose Your State' selection bar to see what my options were. Clicking on the menu, I noticed right away that territories and the District of Columbia had apparently become states with the adoption of Obamacare. How nice for them. Just for fun, I selected the Northern Marina Islands state. The 'information' section informed me that if I live in the Northern Marina Islands I am not eligible to use the 'Marketplace' to apply for health insurance. So first the ACA makes territories into states, but then excludes them from coverage? That's just not right! What about people from other states that are there on extended stays or otherwise domiciled in a 'real' US state? They can't apply? I am already confused...

So then I picked my state, Virginia. The help selector noted that I could use this web site to apply, compare plans, and enroll. This is because Virginia declined to set up it's own exchange, so the Federal government opted to do that for the citizens of Virginia. How nice and helpful of them. Was it part of the law that they would have the authority to do this? This is what I found on the HHS site:
In states that elect not to establish a Marketplace, the ACA requires HHS to establish and operate a "federally-facilitated Marketplace" (FFM) in that state. This would also apply in the event HHS determines that despite state efforts to establish a Marketplace, the Marketplace has not made sufficient progress to become fully operational by January 1, 2014. An FFM can be implemented by HHS alone, or a state can enter into a “partnership” with the FFM, combining state-designed and operated functions with federally designed and operated functions. Partnerships are considered a subset of the FFM, indicating that HHS has authority over partnerships in the FFM.
So rather than set up a separate web site for each state that does not set up an exchange, there is one federal site for all of them. I am not a lawyer, but this seems to be a violation of the intent of what the ACA says is to be done. Where exactly in Virginia is this FFM that the HHS has set up? The location wasn't given in the web site. I strongly suspect that it doesn't exist, but that is a topic for another time.

That's all I have time for today. I must make more time to look into this wonderful web site in the future. Stay tuned!

On to more madness: Part Two

UPDATE UPDATE: Even Better! Welcome IMAO Readers! Take a look around and maybe come on back sometime. Oh, and feel free to give the puppy blender readers a piece of your mind in the comments, or whatever...

UPDATE: Holy Cow! An Instalaunch! Welcome Instapundit readers! Have a look around and see if there is stuff on my little blog that amuses you. I do humor, serious, and hiking notes. A little something for everyone... to quote a very wise old TV man, "ya'll come back now, ya hear?"

23 comments:

  1. You clearly did not get the memo. White guys are expected to either die or self-terminate.

    Because, slavery.

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    Replies
    1. I hope not Salt Lick...I'm married to a white guy and the mother of two white guys. I'm kinda fond of all three.

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    2. I hope not Salt Lick...I'm married to a white guy and the mother of two white guys. I'm kinda fond of all three.

      Delete
    3. Heh. Well, maybe you can get a waiver. Everyone else has.

      But I'd be sure to check the "race" box as "multiracial" if I were you. ;-)

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    4. Remember, if McDonalds or Ford have websites and there isn't enough diversity THEY are racist. But if the government has a website and there isn't enough diversity that means YOU are racist.

      Now sit down and eat your peas

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  2. Much like Australia where all women are "Shelia," all these ladies are "Julia." Remember her?

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    Replies
    1. So that means they have to allow themselves to get mauled by your friendly local Democrat politician?

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    2. I do remember Julia! Bob - not by my congress critter.. I think he may in 'in the closet' - not that there's anything wrong with that...

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  3. " I noticed right away that territories and the District of Columbia had apparently become states with the adoption of Obamacare."

    Well, Pelosi did say that we'd have to pass it in order to know what was in it. Did it say anything about how many electoral votes they were given?

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  4. " I noticed right away that territories and the District of Columbia had apparently become states with the adoption of Obamacare."

    Was it a total of 57 states?

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  5. "InstaLANCHE" ... as in "OMG! An avalanche of hits; teh servers gonna catch on fire!" :-)

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    Replies
    1. Maybe he just meant he made instant soup for his midday meal!

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    2. Uh if you read a little farther, you'll note that I am doing a paleo thing - instant soup is definitely not on the menu...

      TC: 'Instalanche' looks a little french to me. If I were still eating fries, they would be FREEDOM fries. Thus, we will have to agree disagree on that spelling...

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  6. "So I have heard that the Obamacare Exchanges were going to open soon, so I took a little stroll over there to see what it was all about."

    Why would you write a post like this and not include a link to the site you're talking about? Unless this is a parody and the whole thing is made up... I don't know, I'm confused now. I would gently suggest though, that if those photos are from the source you say they are, that you link the site so people can "take a little stroll" over there themselves.

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  7. Because the federal government has spent $600,000,000 on marketing and outreach so you should already know how to get to the marketplace, right?

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  8. its own exchange ...

    it's is always a contraction for "it is."

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    Replies
    1. Actually you're wrong. Look it up.

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  9. When you're a middle-aged, middle class white guy, face it - the Democrats hate your guts, and the Republicans hold you in utter contempt. Why? Because they can.

    The exchange is healthcare.gov.

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  10. healthcare.gov is run in distributed fashion by Akamai (a little application of the whois utility uncovers this). You can ask Martin Hannigan who is listed as technical contact for the domain. Because he's very likely got nothing to do with the politics of it, I won't post the phone number. You probably could set up with Akamai that Virginia requests go to a server physically located in Virginia but talk to the fellow and you'll be able to nail it down for sure.

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    Replies
    1. Er my point is that by combining the enrollment, they have the appearance of being all one - regardless of where the data resides. Somewhat equivalent to when a company incorporates in a given state. they must actually have at least a PO box in that state. I know - the law means whatever the administration says it means...

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  11. I think it's awesome that you went with "Gang Aft Agley," a phrase introduced to me by my 7th grade English teacher when discussing the best laid plans of mice and men...

    My first foray to your blog. I'll be back. Nice work!

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    Replies
    1. That's about when I remember learning it too. My first encounter with Scots dialect. As I recall, we read it as a precursor to reading Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men". That kind prose kinda sticks to your ribs...

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  12. I think it's hilarious that they call them "Marketplaces."

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