Whose Behind The ObamaCare Start-up Failure?

[Lucky]

Newsweek.com takes a look at CGI, a company that is more a part of the US Government than you might think. In an amazing story, we see that Obama farmed out- outsourced- the creation of the health care website, then sat back and let them bungle it. But, how can we blame the president when so much of the government is outsourced these days?

http://www.newsweek.com/too-big-succeed-207325 will give you a good example of how our government has changed, and who really runs it these days. This outsourcing is highly popular throughout the government and the military, something I doubt the Founding fathers envisioned, and something most Americans might not even be aware of. I know I thought a federal agency created the Obamacare enrollment website.

[RA1]

I don't blame BO for bungling ObamaCare, I blame him for indirectly authorizing the expenditure of 500-600 million dollars to incompetents and then refusing to change his stance about when the web site will be ready. He lied, knew he lied and continued to lie. But, as MsGuy says, that is what pols do, but I suspect a few voters expected something else.

The Democratic Congress was a full participant in the bungling.

Best regards,

RA1

[Lucky]

They keep saying that Obamacare will one day be looked upon as fondly as we now look upon the success of Medicare. Rough edges need to be worked out, at the least, but I still support easy access to healthcare for all. Not sure how the Democratic Congress could be bungling given all the obstacles the Republicans put in their way. Are you saying they passed this law against all Republican opposition all the while bungling it? How could that happen in America??

[RA1]

I know plenty of folks who are still complaining about how FDR "ruined" this country. Medicare is sort of like our democratic process, it isn't very good but it is the best we have so far. Doctors don't like it. Insurance companies don't like it. Very often patients don't like it. But it is the current "standard". I don't think I will live long enough for Obamacare to have its' effects fully known.

Best regards,

RA1

[TampaYankee]

I know plenty of folks who are still complaining about how FDR "ruined" this country. Medicare is sort of like our democratic process, it isn't very good but it is the best we have so far. Doctors don't like it. Insurance companies don't like it. Very often patients don't like it. But it is the current "standard". I don't think I will live long enough for Obamacare to have its' effects fully known.

Best regards,

RA1

No doubt you do but they are a very small minority -- for either SS or Medicare. Most people who remember or know of FDR revere him and most of their parents revered him. He didn't get elected four times by the vast number of complainers.

Medicare isn't perfect. Very few things in this universe are, especially if man made. And like our democracy, we shouldn't throw it out because it isn't perfect, just the best we've managed to do so far.

I like Medicare. It works fine for me. Yeah, on occasion I have grumbled about something that was not covered or about the bureaucracy getting screwed up. I also experienced both with Blue Cross/Blue Shield when I dealt with them. It is what happens when you have complicated policies and bureaucracies, be they public or private.

Medicare is not perfect but it beats the hell out of old folks going without health care and that is what the alternative would be for most without Medicare. We actually lived without Medicare. We have history. We were NOT better off as a country, society or elder class. Period!!!!! All the ineffectual sputtering ideology to the contrary.

There are improvements that need to be made for sure. The Doctor Fix needs to be fixed permanently. The problem is that the GOP wants to improve Medicare away. Not much room for improvement with such a divergent path.

Some insurance companies may not like it because they cannot take Medicare for the same ride anymore, siphoning off profits that they weren't entitled too, or were unnecessary from the perspective of delivering health care. My insurance company has no issue with Medicare -- none that they complain to me about -- and I have good coverage. I pay for it. Also, from the number of insurance companies that market me during open sign up over and over and over, they seem not put off by the current medicare/medigap market.

The fixes are obvious to me. Take the cap off the Medicare tax. Index copays and deductibles with income. Institute a realistic permanent doc fix and come to some compromise on tort reform to reign in nuisance suits and damage awards for legit claims.

What is not a solution is 'voucherizing' medicare to get it off entitlement status with an inadequate stipend that inflation will make totally inconsequential down the road, all the while leaving seniors to the benevolence of insurance companies. Truly a Health Care Nirvana in the making.

[RA1]

It seems that many folks today view FDR as a great war time President and a very terrible peace time one who did not effectively "cure" the Great Depression. He tried to apply a band aid here and there but the war itself "cured" the depression. Whether FDR helped start the war behind the scenes is still a matter for debate.

The thing I most agree with about your post is the need for tort reform but see little chance of that ever happening so long as the Congress is dominated by lawyers, either as members or lobbyists.

Medicare is a good program, not a great program. As you suggest, it has lots of room for improvement. One reason the insurance companies do not complain is because it is relatively futile to do so. Medicare already is the standard for medical care and there is little prospect for that to change. What ever doctors charge is based on the Medicare amount. Sometimes they can charge a plus amount but more often it is the stated amount. With no change whatsoever, what happens in the next say 20 years likely will tell the tale. Will there be enough doctors to provide health care to this nation?

Hospitals are an entirely different issue and they are bloated with overhead and spurious charges. They do need to be reined in. Perhaps Medicare or ObamaCare will do so. I think the hospitals + the "middlemen" who deal with the government and insurance companies and doctors are the only ones who are really making excess profits.

Best regards,

RA1