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About 25% of HealthCare.gov Applications Have Errors

itwbennett writes "An estimated one in four user applications sent from HealthCare.gov to insurance providers have errors introduced by the website, an official with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said during a press briefing Friday. The errors include missing forms, duplicate forms and incorrect information in the applications, such as wrong information about an applicant's marital status, said Julie Bataille, communications director for HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). While the software bugs leading to the errors have largely been fixed, as many as 10 percent of insurance applications may still have errors and consumers who have used HealthCare.gov to buy insurance and have concerns that their applications haven't been processed or have errors should contact their insurers, Bataille said."

27 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. If you like your errors by Cornwallis · · Score: 5, Funny

    You can keep your errors.

    Period.

  2. Re:Human error by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

    An estimated one in four user applications sent from HealthCare.gov to insurance providers have errors introduced by the website

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  3. Data In, Garbage Out by davide+marney · · Score: 4, Informative

    By this point, I think people generally understand that Healthcare.gov is to be avoided if at all possible. This system of systems is a monster (reportedly 500 million lines of code at 60-70% completion), and it's probably too big to test -- testing might take longer than it took to write, i.e., the QA death spiral.

    The only reason to use the exchange is to get a subsidy. If you are a normal taxpayer who won't qualify for one, go off-exchange.

    Or, join a religious health care pool, which are medical cost-sharing plans that are exempt from the law.

    --
    "We receive as friendly that which agrees with, we resist with dislike that which opposes us" - Faraday
    1. Re:Data In, Garbage Out by ganjadude · · Score: 3, Informative

      really?because I am going to have to pay 2X more for a plan that is about 1/2 as good as what I had prior.

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    2. Re:Data In, Garbage Out by ganjadude · · Score: 2

      Any citations? In my area the churchs tend to help the poor and needy (all denominations from buddist to christian as well) WAY more than the government does.

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    3. Re:Data In, Garbage Out by Bartles · · Score: 2

      You're really hung up on this idea that insurance companies never pay out. People that I know who have had to file large claims, generally have not had a problem. I have a friend who was in a motorcycle accident and never had to even look at a bill. Later on he discovered that his insurance company had paid more the 400K for his hospital care. ICU, surgeries, follow-ups. Be careful that you are not unfairly maligning a system, to reach an end result that you find favorable.

  4. Compared to what? by dutchwhizzman · · Score: 2

    Is this after correcting against how many would have errors if they were filed directly? I'm willing to bet that direct applications contain a similar number of inaccuracies, so what's the news here?

    --
    I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
    1. Re:Compared to what? by swb · · Score: 3, Informative

      I've only had to fill out paper health care forms a couple of times, but it's really easy to see how those confusing monsters can be filled out erroneously by the form filler, and then of course there are the transcription problems when forms get computer entered, either by drones in a coding center or by HR people.

      What's wrong with this in comparison though, is that when the end-user uses a web site you would assume there is error checking of form logic (ie, if I fill box A and B it should be able to tell if I need to fill out box C). There's still the problem of factual error by the user but that's harder to detect.

      The problem here though seems to be the data stored is erroneous due to problems with the code, not due to user error.

    2. Re:Compared to what? by NicBenjamin · · Score: 2

      Keep in mind that in theory Healthcare.gov should be simpler then those monsters. This is because a) Healthcare.gov is not intended to be so confusing that people fuck it up (many "cheap" plans intentionally confuse people, take their premiums, and then throw them off as soon as they file a claim because the application was wrong), and b) it is not supposed to get any info from you except your age and address. The only other info it should need is income info, and in theory that's coming from the IRS.

      That's probably why the site was relatively easy to get working in a month even tho a bunch of idiots fucked it up. If you read the article carefully you'll note that the post-relaunch error rate number is under 1%.

  5. Re: Human error by sumdumass · · Score: 5, Informative

    An estimated one in four user applications sent from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' HealthCare.gov to insurance providers have errors introduced by the website,

    Introduced by the website seems to imply they are because of the website. Both the article and summery say that.

    Now from what I have been told, you don't fill out specific forms. You enter specific information into the website and it fills the forms out for you based on the plans you pick. It is supposed to stop you from filling forms out incorrectly or getting confused on wording and so on. It also allows you to do direct comparisons without having to fill 20 forms out for 10 different providers offering 2 plans each.

  6. Re: Human error by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh, my mistake then.

    "If you like your mistake, you can keep it."

    Obamacare was rushed out, without any testing, and it's a new application for them. Of course it will have all the hallmarks of a version 1.0 release . . . like plenty of errors. Most wise IT folks always wait for the second or third release of a product before using it.

    Except with Obamacare, it's the law that you have to use the 1.0 buggy release.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  7. FUD in, FUD out by DogDude · · Score: 2

    By this point, I think people generally understand that Healthcare.gov is to be avoided if at all possible. This system of systems is a monster (reportedly 500 million lines of code at 60-70% completion), and it's probably too big to test -- testing might take longer than it took to write, i.e., the QA death spiral.

    I fail to see what a large codebase has to do with end users using or not using it.

    The only reason to use the exchange is to get a subsidy. If you are a normal taxpayer who won't qualify for one, go off-exchange.

    Why wouldn't somebody want to compare plans and prices available off-exchange with those in the exchange, exactly?

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re:FUD in, FUD out by Oligonicella · · Score: 2

      I fail to see what a large codebase has to do with end users using or not using it.

      It isn't completely written yet, much less tested. In other words it doesn't, and with that large of code base in this state won't, work (see IRS).

      Why wouldn't somebody want to compare plans and prices available off-exchange with those in the exchange, exactly?

      They're incorrect plan and price quotes? They make you enter your vitals before you can compare? Just two reasons off the top of my head.

  8. They seem to have their priorities correct by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The healthcare.gov website is being maligned more than it deserves to be. Buying healthcare is not going to be as easy as buying iTunes, or even booking hotels. Further it did not have the option of growing slowly with extensive beta period. How many years Gmail was in beta, don't we remember? Add to it the complexities of providing subsidy, that requires income verification, that requires ... And the majority of the users it targets are from the demographic that is least likely to be familiar with internet and least likely to be educated.

    We don't have to excuse them, we can demand they anticipate these things and provide for it. They seems to have an idea of these issues, with their plans to create a cadre of "navigators" to help people with internet access and web site help. But the plan and law was heavily politicized, 36 states refused to set up their own exchanges and dumped all of them on the federal exchange. Millions of people who would have gone to medicaid are dumped into exchanges because they refused to expand medicaid.

    No doubt there were self inflicted wounds. Politicians scared of people getting sticker shock, insisted on disabling the window shop and see full price option at roll out, That was the root cause of disaster. The first thing the "tech surge" did was to enable window shopping. It was enabled as early as Oct 15, I tested it then, They could not have done it that soon if it was fresh code. Window shopping was the original code, They just disabled the meddling by the politicians and went on the original code path.

    Still they are doing it in the right order. Get people to commit to a plan before the dead line. Errors on the back end can be sorted out when they actually file claims,

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:They seem to have their priorities correct by Oligonicella · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But the plan and law was heavily politicized

      Yes sir, it was. Remember "We'll have to pass the law to see what's in it"? After that, every excuse is moot.

      Half a billion dollars.

    2. Re:They seem to have their priorities correct by khallow · · Score: 2

      But the plan and law was heavily politicized, 36 states refused to set up their own exchanges and dumped all of them on the federal exchange. Millions of people who would have gone to medicaid are dumped into exchanges because they refused to expand medicaid.

      This is just a straightforward exercise of self-interest at the US state level. It's not the individual state's job to cover inadequacies in federal law or shoulder the costs for their implementation.

      Still they are doing it in the right order. Get people to commit to a plan before the dead line. Errors on the back end can be sorted out when they actually file claims,

      Can be != will be. It's worth noting here that filing a claim indicates that you will cost an insurance company money. If they then can find an error in your application that let's them selectively disqualify you after the fact, there would be considerable incentive to do so.

    3. Re:They seem to have their priorities correct by kesj · · Score: 3, Interesting

      According to the Boston Globe this morning, Massachusetts' (you know the state that was the model for the PPACA) Health Connector website has not enrolled a single person since it was revamped to support Obamacare at a cost of $69 million. The entire infrastructure to support the PPACA is apparently riddled with problems that impact not only healthcare.gov but the sites created by states that choose to implement their own. In Massachusetts, 100,000 people have been told their insurance which was in compliance with the state's Minimum Credible Coverage standard aren't good enough now and they need to choose a new health insurance through the non-functional site as the Governor Patrick's administration is not allowing them to remain on their existing policies.

    4. Re:They seem to have their priorities correct by davide+marney · · Score: 3, Informative

      Still they are doing it in the right order. Get people to commit to a plan before the dead line

      I think you've missed the point about having a 25% error rate. That means 25% of the people who used the exchange will have thought they selected a plan, but in reality, they didn't. They may think they have insurance, but don't.

      So, the correct order would be to do the backend first, which makes sure that people actually get insurance, then fix the pretty front end. Fixing the pretty front end first actually makes things worse because it increases the number of people who will be hurt by the errors.

      --
      "We receive as friendly that which agrees with, we resist with dislike that which opposes us" - Faraday
    5. Re:They seem to have their priorities correct by martin-boundary · · Score: 2

      It was Wrong for Gmail to be "in beta". It was a weasel word to get people like you to forgive the issues for no good reason. A beta program is one where you have a fixed small number of testers who use the software in exchange for giving you detailed feedback on remaining bugs and usability. It's not a label you should leave on the software once you have actual users who expect to use it in their day to day activities. Especially if you expect them to agree to an EULA before doing so.

  9. Re: Human error by Oligonicella · · Score: 2

    Delta. Remember, there's an entire back end that hasn't even hit testing.

  10. Re:Human error by ganjadude · · Score: 2, Funny

    what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul. ~

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  11. Half a Billion Dollars In, Garbage Out by Oligonicella · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This post is the best example of an apologist with no logic or facts for backup.

    No. They awarded a known incompetent company with a record of bad projects with a non-compete contract. Then they paid them ONE HALF OF A BILLION DOLLARS for a shitty website and aren't asking for a fucking refund.

  12. Don't use the website by BringsApples · · Score: 3, Informative

    I waited until the last minute because 'fuck the government' right? But when I did call, I got a really nice lady that walked me through the whole process in less than 30 minutes. They basically ask you the questions from the forms (the forms are also available to fill out yourself and mail in. Forms link, and instructions link)

    I have a family of 4 and we'll end up paying $74.00 per month for Blue Cross Silver plan. It's better than what I have right now through Blue Cross, and I've been paying $400 a month for it.

    --
    Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    1. Re:Don't use the website by davide+marney · · Score: 3, Insightful

      OK, you're a "winner" in the health care insurance lottery, congratulations. But realize that the rest of us are the "losers" who are paying not just the cost of our health insurance, but part of yours, too.

      --
      "We receive as friendly that which agrees with, we resist with dislike that which opposes us" - Faraday
  13. Re:Republicans are in tough situation. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is true the Republicans do have a job on their hands trying to raise votes by "not purchasing them with other peoples money".

  14. Re:Human error by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

    The 25% error rate in so-called 834 transmissions is a "preliminary" estimate of the website's performance between its launch Oct. 1 and Nov. 30

    0.77% is just for the past week.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  15. Not much of a scare by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    That sounds like a great deal if you live clean anyway. If you don't drink much, don't plan on getting pregnant, and don't care for routine examinations it's a great deal - just like the cheaper health insurance plans that are now illegal.

    As for the "scare" from your link, it was one case where the company decided it could not legally provide insurance in the state where the people lived - unfortunate but not really a company issue. And an arbitration panel agreed with that assessment when challenged, You prefer to believe the state that claimed it never blocked them from providing coverage, even though the state as just as mud a PR interest in looking good as the company.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley