<p>We were talking about the healthe care for 30 years. It is finally up and running. Many people rush to see what it is like is to be expected. I am not affected but I am curious myself.</p>
<p>I wonder… will people be eligible for ACA subsidized policies as soon as they lose their jobs or will they have to use COBRA? This could make COBRA obsolete. Even without the subsidies, we found cheaper insurance than COBRA. Felt silly after the fact for paying for COBRA as long as we did. We are just so conditioned to fear losing that employer health insurance that we hang onto it as long as possible.</p>
<p>You should open an ACA consultant business Calmom.</p>
<p>^Boy do I agree. </p>
<p>Like a few others, I’m going to wait to explore further. But the challenge in choosing a plan will be that we have not had many med expenses in the past few years- but did in the past.</p>
<p>Calmom,</p>
<p>I am not making it up. On the ipad, the screen I got would not let me look at plans and said “You must apply so we can find exactly what benefits you qualify for.” </p>
<p>Going on a desktop computer, the site looks different and allows you different functions. I was able to view this morning. </p>
<p>As for my Kaiser plan, I currently have a 3000 family max out of pocket plan with $20 copays. I have never had to pay the deductibles before getting treatment - even on a year with major surgery. Our copay for surgery was $100 - so yes, this is more expensive than the plan we have in the long haul. </p>
<p>We had group health that we purchased through Kaiser a couple of years ago that was nearly identical to the plan we ended up with through employer. </p>
<p>It will take some checking and comparing. We are above the subsidy level for a family of 5, so will likely not be able to use the Covered CA website for discounts. I am thinking ahead.</p>
<p>This is a really good short video that explains Obamacare from Kaiser. I have forwarded it to my kids. [The</a> Simplest Explanation Of Obamacare. Ever.](<a href=“The Simplest Explanation Of Obamacare. Ever. - Upworthy”>The Simplest Explanation Of Obamacare. Ever. - Upworthy)</p>
<p>Still can’t get into the site to buy. Like Paul Krugman, I view this particular technical glitch as a good sign – lots of people are trying to sign up right away.</p>
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<p>If a private sector had 3 years to do so and failed, the people responsible would have been fired and the company would have suffered financially for years to come. We should be outraged.</p>
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<p>Well its not the private sector! And more to my point: since they are using taxpayer dollars to build the system, I for one am glad that they did not build it for 100% up-time for 100% of the expected population. That type of redundancy and extra/over capacity is mighty expensive, and not worth the $$ since no one had any idea of how many would login on Day 1. (Heck, how many of those searching the ACA web were journalists just trying to write a story. 
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<p>Anyone know of any site where anyone can get on and get some estimates? I’m looking for something for my son, but can’t get on so I have no idea what will be available.</p>
<p>Private sector screw-ups on a larger scale are common. I just had a Toyota recall for brake failure. I could list massive safety recalls, law suits over deaths, huge settlements, etc. for page after page. </p>
<p>Not many years ago, a large NYC bank mailed out debit cards … with the PIN numbers printed on the envelopes. (That’s a personal favorite.)</p>
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<p>As I mentioned, in North Carolina (where the healthcare.gov is a federally run site) I could not register on the healthcare.gov website but I was able to get a quote from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina on a 2014 policy that included the subsidy. They asked for an estimate of my 2014 income and I was able to put in different numbers and get different policy premiums (different subsidies).<br>
I got prices on a whole array of policies - lots of silver, some bronze, some gold, even a platinum policy.</p>
<p>I finally registered today (the security questions finally showed up) so I have a login ID that was confirmed via email, but I still can’t actually log on to the website.</p>
<p>ehealthinsurance.com has ZERO policies available for (my part of?) NJ at this time. I contacted customer service and they told me the insurance department was still working out what the plans/premiums would be, and to try back in a week or two. </p>
<p>BCBSNJ is showing some plans available, but no information about subsidies.</p>
<p>Still can’t get through a registration on the federal site.</p>
<p>Our company started getting us to encrypt our hard drives when people from companies like Fidelity started losing laptops where the entire customer info including their SS numbers were available for use.</p>
<p>I’m surprised so many went to the gov site, didn’t they know to go to their state website?..in most cases, all the gov site does is redirect to the states sites. Is our population really this ignorant?</p>
<p>Our state (Florida) doesn’t have a site. I have to go to healthcare.gov. But yes, I do think that the population is really that ignorant. I’ve seen several news stories on TV where the reporter is asking the person in the street whether they know that Obamacare started yesterday. There were plenty who didn’t have a clue.</p>
<p>Ignorant? No. Careful. absolutely.</p>
<p>With warning of spam, hostile hacking look alike sites it seems prudent to follow certain paths.</p>
<p>Try googling your state site and see how many different places you can go.</p>
<p>Now try being someone NOT computer savvy.</p>
<p>The gov’t has not had 3 years to set this up. They had to wait to see, state by state, what they needed to do. For instance, California started their state initiative right away. For other states, the governors considered their options for many months or even years before announcing whether they were going to participate and set up state exchanges or tell the federal government to do it. The Feds couldn’t do anything until each state made its individual decision.</p>
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<p>There are some states which did not set up state exchanges, and turned it over to the federal government.</p>
<p>Well given that the gov’t is shut down it’s amazing that anyone can get in and use the system at all. I’m surprised they don’t have a big sign saying “Sorry we’re shut down and you can get your medical coverage when we reopen for business.” Or is that part of the game?</p>