It’s Cyber Monday, Is the ObamaCare Website Ready to Deliver?

President Obama: “I am accused of a lot of things but I don’t think I am stupid enough to go around saying this is gonna be like shopping on Amazon or Travelocity a week before the website opens if I thought that it wasn’t gonna work.” What if companies competed to sell health insurance on functioning websites like Amazon or Travelocity? What if ehealthinsurance.com, a private website that delivers quotes and connects millions with actual insurance plans, could sell insurance in all fifty states?

Today, Cyber Monday is supposed to be the moment of truth for HealthCare.gov. Even if the website “functions” for the “vast majority” of those who try it, there will hardly be any holiday “deals.” In fact, over 5.5 million Americans will visit HealthCare.gov because Obamacare is forcing them to do so.

These are only the people whose plans have been cancelled in the individual health insurance market. Some estimate as many as 100 million Americans may lose health insurance coverage under Obamacare. In fact, the Obama administration estimates that at least half of those with private health insurance will lose coverage when Obamacare employer mandates go into effect by the end of 2014. 

For those seeking private insurance on the upgraded website, costs are soaring like never before. Families are seeing premiums double. Students with inexpensive coverage are seeing that coverage dropped. Even the Speaker of the House saw his premiums double when he joined the District of Columbia health insurance exchange. 

HealthCare.gov is a disaster. Insurance companies are not receiving correct information. Enrollment data has been hacked and is appearing in Google searches. The person in charge of building HealthCare.gov testified before Congress that all of the back-office payment and accounting systems have yet to be built. Can you imagine if actual commerce operated this way? It is no wonder that more than half of the American people do not trust President Obama or believe his “leadership” inspires confidence.

Where do we go from here?

The logical approach would be to repeal Obamacare in its entirety and begin the process of introducing free market reform to the health insurance market. The House Republican Study Committee and Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) have market oriented plans for review on their websites. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) intends to offer his own plan in the coming days. Unfortunately, many Republicans in Senate “leadership” have demonstrated little appetite for this approach.

The Senate Republican “leadership” strategy seems to be to allow Harry Reid to walk further and further out on the plank defending Obamacare. As Americans become increasingly angry, nervous Senate Democrats will make Harry Reid jump off the plank in order to save their political skins. This strategy is risky for two reasons.

(1) The Obama administration can further delay mandates until after the 2014 election as they have done recently with the small business mandate thereby delaying the harmful effects of Obamacare to the voting public.

(2) The GOP runs the risk of being perceived as a party of all talk and no action. While party insiders have taken great glee in showcasing Obamcare’s failings and the Democrat politicians who supported them, many Republican politicians have not thrown political weight behind practical alternatives.

The GOP needs to fight to roll back Obamacare at every opportunity. Now is not the time to offer a “fix” for something that was built on lies to begin with. 

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