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| Your Daily Bumblecare Fail |
| 2013-05-23 |
| Two online health calculators designed by federal officials to help states and employers comply with Obamacare mandates are riddled with so many flaws that users are abandoning them, The Washington Examiner has learned. Users say the calculators - one used by state officials, the other by private employers - too often are confusing, produce contradictory results, do not reflect real world conditions, and use old data. The problem is so acute that several states are weighing whether or not to create their own calculators. The Obamacare program is supposed to be fully implemented and functioning on Jan. 1, 2014. The employer calculator particularly baffles those who offer health insurance plans and are struggling to comply with the law. Under Obamacare, states sponsoring health insurance exchanges must use the federal calculator to evaluate their standardized plans for individuals and small groups. Each plan must offer services in 10 medical categories. Federal health care officials can use the results produced by the calculators to force states to change premium prices and out-of-pocket expenses for consumers. The plans are supposed to go into effect October 1 in the phased implementation of Obamacare nationwide. Employers use the second calculator to report line-by-line benefits and employee costs. A failing calculator number can force employers to pay stiff fines. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designed both calculators. A CMS spokesman declined to comment for this story. States and insurance companies are supposed to use an "Actuarial Value" calculator. The actuarial value measures benchmarks for the four state standardized plans. An AV value of 60 means the state plan covers 60% of the costs and enrollees pay 40%. The four plans range from 60% to 90% coverage. Employers are to use a "Minimum Value" calculator, which assesses whether an employee health plan meets minimal federal criteria. CMS released "beta" versions of the calculators in November 2012 and a "final" calculator this February. The most glaring problem, according to users, is that the calculators do not reflect real world conditions. |
| Posted by:Beavis |
| #3 Works as designed. Obamacare was designed to fail from day one to push us to single-payor. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2013-05-23 07:52 |
| #2 As a designer and implementer of software for more than 30 years it boggles my mind that anyone thinks that the gov't could possibly pull this off. I consulted to the feds and the political infighting alone would take years and you'd have to start over at every election at the very least. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2013-05-23 07:24 |
| #1 Our government finest at work! The most glaring problem, according to users, is that the calculators do not reflect real world conditions. I could say the same about most of the absolute shit Washington produces. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2013-05-23 00:19 |