The idea that one-third of the enrollment records are flawed “doesn’t accurately reflect the picture of what’s happening right now,” White House senior communications adviser Tara McGuinness said.
“We’ve got a team of experts already working closely with issuers to make sure that every past and future 834 is accurate. We’re confident they’ll succeed,” McGuinness said.
So what is 834? Is it some secret code? Does 834 require high level security clearance? Is 834 a complicated string of zero's and one's that only geeks can understand?
The 834's are nightly enrollment forms sent to insurers to tell them who their new customers are.
Oh . . . .
And what about those times when the site won't let you in or advance?
some consumers encountered a “queue,” a new feature intended for times when the site was too crowded. The feature limits the number of people on the site and notifies others by e-mail when it’s a better time to log in.
That's a feature, not a bug.
Wonder how many Amazon shoppers have been told to take a number and come back later [NB: On CyberMonday they managed to process over 4 million items, no "834's"]?
On Monday, Julie Bataille, a spokeswoman for CMS, recommended that insurance seekers who choose a health plan through the site contact the insurer afterward to make certain they are actually enrolled. “Consumers should absolutely call their selected plan and confirm that they have paid their first month’s premium, and coverage will be available January 1,” she said.
Ms. Bataille must be having a Freddie Prinze (Chico and the Man) moment. Once you are done with healthcare.guv you are done with healthcare.guv. Anything that happens after that point is not their job.
In a call with reporters Monday, Bataille said that about 80 percent of the errors with 834 forms — the enrollment data — stemmed from “one bug that prevented a Social Security number from being included. That caused the system not to generate an 834.”
80% huh?
If healthcare.gub can't accomplish the simple things how will it handle the complex?