Certain state health exchanges, such as New York’s, appear to be functional. But Healthcare.gov, the federal exchange that covers 34 states, continues to have problems. Suderman has no idea when it will be fixed:
It is clear now that, despite occasional suggestions of light at the end of the tunnel, the administration does not know how long the exchange problems will take to fix. At this point, then, it is necessary to at least consider the possibility that the federal exchanges, and perhaps a few of the state-run counterparts as well, are simply not going to work, at least not in the relatively short time the administration has to get the system on track.
Given how little information is available to outsiders, it’s hard to judge with great certainty. It is of course possible that the problems could be resolved in a few days or a few weeks. But the administration’s obfuscations, as well the repeated assurances both before and after the opening of the exchanges that they had everything under control, don’t inspire confidence that meaningful fixes are on the way. Already there are signals that the exchange problems could be deep and long-lasting.
Ezra explains the possible consequences of these glitches:
Short-term problems can become long-term problems. Take the difficulties accessing the federal exchanges. If those persist much longer, it could change the mix of people who ultimately sign up.
The people who really need insurance — so, sicker folks — will keep coming back until they get through. But younger, healthier people will give up after a try and decide to simply pay the fine, at least in year one. That would tilt the risk pool in states with federal exchanges towards older, sicker people, which would mean those states will see much higher premiums in year two, which will further dissuade healthier applicants from signing up, and so on. So that’s a case where a short-term problem could become a long-term one.
Additionally, this does not inspire confidence:
The deadline to apply to enroll in health coverage and not pay a penalty next year is not the same deadline as the end of the open enrollment period, March 31. It’s actually February 15. Which means that while you can still enroll after February 15, you’ll have to pay the penalty for going uninsured if you finish your application after that date. What’s terrifying isn’t the earlier date itself, but the facepalm-worthy fact that the administration, including the Internal Revenue Service, seems not have known about the earlier date until very recently when it was pointed out to them.
The Dish 