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Obamacare’s web site is really bad

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Re: Obamacare’s web site is really bad

#51

Post by Volundr »

joshuahedlund wrote: post #34

From my experience, yes the site is really bad, and it's more than just heavy traffic. The sign up screen lists some requirements for the username, but not all of them. My sign up attempt failed several times with a non-descript error message, which I attributed to the heavy traffic, until later I saw the "Forgot your username" page listed more requirements (apparently you can't end a username in a special character,…

FYI, I was getting the exact same thing, and called the 800 number, and was told that there were specific issues related to my (ID) exchange and that they had techs working on it.

Sure enough last night I was able to get in with the credentials I signed up with.

I won't be signing up for any plans through it though, similar coverage would cost me about the same as what I pay now. Then again, my employer picks up 50% of my premium, so for some people it may represent a huge savings.

Re: Obamacare’s web site is really bad

#52

Post by dkhenry »

dangrossman wrote: post #26
dkhenry wrote: post #18

I ask my self how much better could I do then what they have presented. I like to think in this case I, myself, without the teams of developers and millions of dollars could have made a system that queries a database that could handle 7m page views per day.

It doesn't just "query a database", it talks to a whole slew of 20-year-old legacy systems on all different platforms at a whole list of other government agencies. In the process of signing up and creating your profile, here are a few of the systems, all maintained and managed by other departments, that this website has to communicate with in real-time: * The IRS to verify your AGI, family size and marital status * T…

I don't mean to be flippant about the amount of effort required to create the web site, but who decided You needed to verify in real time my AGI and maritial status when I am "browsing" for health plans. That's something that can be done during a verification stage after the fact.`

I know a lot of good work went into it by well meaning individuals, but as it stands it was all for naught as it doesn't work

Re: Obamacare’s web site is really bad

#53

Post by dangrossman »

dkhenry wrote: post #52
dangrossman wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't just "query a database", it talks to a whole slew of 20-year-old legacy systems on all different platforms at a whole list of other government agencies. In the process of signing up and creating your profile, here are a few of the systems, all maintained and managed by other departments, that this website has to communicate with in real-time: * The IRS to verify your AGI, family size and marital status * T…

I don't mean to be flippant about the amount of effort required to create the web site, but who decided You needed to verify in real time my AGI and maritial status when I am "browsing" for health plans. That's something that can be done during a verification stage after the fact.` I know a lot of good work went into it by well meaning individuals, but as it stands it was all for naught as it doesn't work

These things affect what plans you qualify for and how much they'll cost you. It also does work, it's not as if they built something that nobody will ever use. Some millions get through each day, and long before the 6 month enrollment period is over, there won't be anywhere near this kind of load to handle.

It's only been 3 days. Imagine if Blizzard Entertainment wrote off World of Warcraft on day 3, when it was also barely usable with almost exactly the same number of people trying to get online. That'd be ridiculous.

If it weren't day 3 and the site was working, you'd never wish what you just wished for. Nobody would want a system where you have to choose a plan then wait an unknown amount of time to see if you're approved, interact with a bureacracy to correct conflicts between what you provided and what they found in those other systems after-the-fact, have to re-make all your decisions. That's essentially what we have now, except you're interacting with the government instead of a private insurer, and it sucks. What they're giving us instead is the simplicity of online shopping applied to health insurance -- a listing of plans you actually qualify for, the true price you'll pay for them, and online signup on-the-spot.

Re: Obamacare’s web site is really bad

#54

Post by RougeFemme »

I've read that many of sites for the state exchanges (for those states that chose to create their own exchanges, rather than default to the federal one) performed much better than the federal site. . .and at this point, who really knows which factors could be driving the better performance/user experience. . .differences in architecture, demand, testing, QA, support. . .

Re: Obamacare’s web site is really bad

#55

Post by roboneal »

dangrossman wrote: post #37
roboneal wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They hid all of that complexity behind an essentially non-functioning website....genius!

The website's easily among the best this government, or any government, has ever created. It hasn't had a single minute of downtime (the Healthcare.gov servers have handled the load without a hiccup), it looks great, it's easy to use, it's mostly open source (on GitHub no less), and during off-peak hours I had no problem making an account. All that in a few months with a small team and no headline-making budget over-…

You've made a bunch of hyperbolic (reads more like B35T W3BS1TE EVAR!) and unsupported statements in that reply.

There has been no official release of how many people have signed up for actual plans -- Jay Carney said as much at his daily press briefing today.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/04/1244260/-Briefing-b...

Considering the "patient zero" cause celeb from yesterday who supposedly signed up for a plan without a hitch was essentially caught in a lie:

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/oct/03/one...

Forgive me for being a bit skeptical that actual plan signups are a small fraction of your claimed 2.4 million.

Re: Obamacare’s web site is really bad

#56

Post by roboneal »

dangrossman wrote: post #37
roboneal wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They hid all of that complexity behind an essentially non-functioning website....genius!

The website's easily among the best this government, or any government, has ever created. It hasn't had a single minute of downtime (the Healthcare.gov servers have handled the load without a hiccup), it looks great, it's easy to use, it's mostly open source (on GitHub no less), and during off-peak hours I had no problem making an account. All that in a few months with a small team and no headline-making budget over-…

I hate to pile on, but this just came across my Twitter feed.

"The federal government will take down a critical part of HealthCare.gov, the Obamacare web portal, for a portion of the coming weekend as programmers feverishly work to fix major glitches that are impeding enrollment and marring the debut of the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's health care reform law."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/04/obamacare-website_n...

Re: Obamacare’s web site is really bad

#57

Post by dangrossman »

roboneal wrote: post #56
dangrossman wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The website's easily among the best this government, or any government, has ever created. It hasn't had a single minute of downtime (the Healthcare.gov servers have handled the load without a hiccup), it looks great, it's easy to use, it's mostly open source (on GitHub no less), and during off-peak hours I had no problem making an account. All that in a few months with a small team and no headline-making budget over-…

I hate to pile on, but this just came across my Twitter feed. "The federal government will take down a critical part of HealthCare.gov, the Obamacare web portal, for a portion of the coming weekend as programmers feverishly work to fix major glitches that are impeding enrollment and marring the debut of the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's health care reform law." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/04/obama…

We've all acknowledged that the site isn't working right now. That's not evidence that you could've built a better one, or that it's simple as "querying a database". I think you've lost track of the conversation, and this entire story's been flagged off the front page, so let's leave it at that.

Re: Obamacare’s web site is really bad

#58

Post by roboneal »

dangrossman wrote: post #57
roboneal wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate to pile on, but this just came across my Twitter feed. "The federal government will take down a critical part of HealthCare.gov, the Obamacare web portal, for a portion of the coming weekend as programmers feverishly work to fix major glitches that are impeding enrollment and marring the debut of the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's health care reform law." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/04/obama…

We've all acknowledged that the site isn't working right now. That's not evidence that you could've built a better one, or that it's simple as "querying a database". I think you've lost track of the conversation, and this entire story's been flagged off the front page, so let's leave it at that.

Let's leave it at this "It hasn't had a single minute of downtime". So with the shutdown does your Organizing For America paycheck still clear?

Re: Obamacare’s web site is really bad

#59

Post by [deleted] »

roboneal wrote: post #58
dangrossman wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've all acknowledged that the site isn't working right now. That's not evidence that you could've built a better one, or that it's simple as "querying a database". I think you've lost track of the conversation, and this entire story's been flagged off the front page, so let's leave it at that.

Let's leave it at this "It hasn't had a single minute of downtime". So with the shutdown does your Organizing For America paycheck still clear?

[deleted]

Re: Obamacare’s web site is really bad

#60

Post by [deleted] »

roboneal wrote: post #58
dangrossman wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've all acknowledged that the site isn't working right now. That's not evidence that you could've built a better one, or that it's simple as "querying a database". I think you've lost track of the conversation, and this entire story's been flagged off the front page, so let's leave it at that.

Let's leave it at this "It hasn't had a single minute of downtime". So with the shutdown does your Organizing For America paycheck still clear?

[deleted]
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