Reporting on the "quickly encountered technological problems" experienced by many people visiting HealthCare.gov, which is host to Obamacare's online insurance exchanges, the New York Times opened with the spin:
Millions of Americans visited new online health insurance exchanges as enrollment opened on Tuesday, suggesting a broad national appetite for the affordable coverage that President Obama has promised with his health care law.
Paul Krugman ran with it, blogging that the "glitches" were "a bit worse than expected" because traffic volume to the site was "much bigger than predicted." This was "good, not bad news" because it showed that "young, healthy people" had not been scared away from signing up to get an insurance policy by the "combination of ignorance and misinformation". "Lots of people logging on and signing up on the very first day," Krugman asserted, was "an early indication that it’s going to be fine, that plenty of people will sign up for the first year of health reform."
But what was the "Most Popular" question on HealthCare.gov the day before the exchanges were launched?
How do I get an exemption from the fee for not having health coverage?
(h/t EPJ)
Paul Krugman’s conclusion may have been wrong about the traffic indicating many people were interested in coverage (unofficial numbers are ~.5 million signed up despite the web glitches), but the ACA won’t be fully implemented till 2016. All things considered, it’s ultimately going to need some proving ground to measure the net impact on the country for better or worse.
“How do I get an exemption from the fee for not having health coverage?”
When the FAQ is thrown in with Krugman’s claims it appears rather ironic, doesn’t it? But of the millions who visited the site five people could’ve asked that question. You know how scripts work, but it is entertaining poking fun at political figures. I think you’ll agree there’s nothing wrong with people asking about all their options as it pertains to the ACA. People want to know the law regardless of whether they’re liberal, conservative, or wear a tin foil hat. The website is for everyone.
The many ways in which the ACA will impact the country for the worse don’t require any more time to recognize.
I hear many people claim this, and I’m trying to verify their claims by doing my own research. I’d like to have a wholly formed opinion of the ACA, but rhetoric is mostly what I’m finding.
In the short run I think the ACA will have some negative consequences, but in the long run believe it will prove beneficial for society as a whole. One of the problems with our government, corporations, and most of society is we want instant results and have short attention spans. As a result, we focus on short term plans to suit our feeble minds while turning a blind eye to long term planning. The housing bubble/loan fiasco is a great example of this.
The ACA will not prove beneficial to society as a whole. Of this we can be certain.