Healthcare.gov a Conspiracy?

Would you say that problems citizens are having accessing the healthcare.gov website are a conspiracy?

Since the launch of the website on October 1st, 2013 the technical issues which halt citizens from successfully completing their application for healthcare are still present, nearly a month later. It amazes me that this highly anticipated debut of the the websites opening was not prepared for.

At a recent press conference, Marilyn Tavenner, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service stated, "I want to apologize to you that the website has not worked as well as it should." (Alonso-Zaldivar)

 I completely understand that there are high traffic volumes on the website, due to citizens trying to access the database to join the American bandwagon for healthcare. Yet, is this issue so supreme that our "oh, so powerful" American Government can't solve it?

Could Republicans have sabotaged President Obama's, www.healthcare.gov?

In the mornings during my commute to work, I tune into 89.3 NPR. A heavy discussion that surfaces every morning  is about the effectiveness of the healthcare.gov website. Republicans have made attacking statements towards President Obama's healthcare agenda.

Image Accredited:  manhattaninfidel.org

Obama's healthcare legislation passed through all checks and balances, and was approved by the Supreme Court, and although the bill was made a Law, Republicans were consistently trying to stop the legislation that was already in place. The Affordable Care Act is a law, and despite this fact, republicans attempted to bully the law out of legislation. As a result of the battle to reverse The Affordable Care Act, the Government was shut down. this shows that there is no avail or preference for the american people in the eyes of republicans. This also shows that there is nothing that the republicans wouldn't do in order to have things in their favor.

I believe that the conservative party has ties in the implication and construction of the healthcare.gov website. The United States is a world class leader in intelligence and technology. Although technology is not always 100% reliable, the technical advances that the United States has can make a task such as implementing and contracting a website that allows  access to healthcare services for United States citizens a very minuscule task.

A government contracting company, CGI warned the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services of potential issues and risks with the operation of the website.

"The firm, which was responsible for both contracting key elements of the sites and helping interweave them, cautioned that "hub services are intermittently unavailable" and the time allotted for testing was "not adequate to complete full functional, system, and integration testing activities." They rated problems as "nearly certainty" and "highly likely" and rated the impact as "significant" or "severe." (Eilperin)

If the battle to implement new healthcare reform was so brute as to have our government shut down, isn't it ironic that after the battle was lost for the conservative party they now fight for a new cause. Republicans are in a uproar because citizens can't access healthcare.gov, a site that Republicans had our government shutdown in effort to stop.

I am convinced that Republicans knew all along that the new healthcare reform would be beneficial to citizens. Thus, they are continuing to make it seem like the Democratic party do not have citizens best interest in mind and that the entire healthcare act is flawed.

Works Cited:

Alonso-Zaldivar, Ricardo. "Medicare chief apologizes for 'Obamacare' website woes." Los Angeles

Daily News. N.p., 29 Oct 2013. Web. 31 Oct 2013. <http://www.dailynews.com/government-and-politics/20131029/medicare-chief-apologizes-for-obamacare-website-woes>.

Eilperin, Juliet. "CGI warned of HealthCare.gov problems a month before launch, documents show." 

Post Politics. The Washington Post, 29 Oct 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/10/29/cgi-warned-of-heatlhcare-gov-problems-a-month-before-launch-documents-show/>.

The Affordable Care Act

Image Accredited:  www.whitehouse.gov

The Affordable Care Act was created with efforts to better America's economy and assist citizens in obtaining affordable healthcare. The act prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage to patients with pre-exisitng conditions, along with charging patients higher premiums based on their health history and conditions. The act encourages all companies to offer health insurance to all their employees  or result in paying a surtax. This is important for those citizens who work for companies and do not have access to health insurance benefits. Circumstances like this contribute to the increase in many citizens without health insurance, which results in an increase in self pay patients at both doctors offices and hospital emergency rooms.

Without insurance patients are not able to manage their health effectively. Preventive healthcare measures such as, monthly follow-ups and yearly physicals are not being met. Resulting in unmanaged health conditions that decline your health. If you are not taking care of and following up on your health,   then it is inevitable for emergency room visits to occur. Many patients that are self-pay and without health insurance, turn to emergency rooms for treatment. Hospitals are not permitted to deny a patient medical help, despite the lack of insurance coverage.  Subsequently, patients are then charged paying out of pocket for emergency visits. The majority of the patients without health insurance are not financially able to pay for the out of pocket services of emergency room visits. That simply opens the door to "debt". Patients are being billed for services that financially they can not afford.

The act also penalizes those that still chose to opt-out from health insurance coverage. The initial goal of the plan is to get all citizens insured in order to lower the cost of healthcare. If all citizens were insured the demand and rates would be less competitive and more affordable. Thus, The Affordable Care Act.

Medical Assistance which is offered through the various states will also be available to a greater percentage of low income families and individuals, as long as they meet the adjusted requirements.

For those young individuals that were kicked off their parents insurance at the age of 18, they no longer have to worry about having health insurance. Now an individual can remain on their parents insurance plan until they reach the age of 26. This is helpful for those students like myself who are working to finishing school. This can potentially save a student, like myself a great deal of money.

The Affordable Care Act is solely based on your income which is more ideal for individuals. It makes absolutely no sense  that health insurance premiums are standard with companies. A CEO of a company and a general employee should not have to pay for health insurance on the same financial scale. Health insurance should be based off of income in order to meet the financial needs of all.

President Obama created the Affordable Care act with all of these aspects in mind. Trying to make healthcare more accessible and affordable. I give credit to this act for being well planned and organized with the best interest for all citizens in mind, not simply one social class over the next.

Journey into Healthcare

Image Accredited:  http://onlinembapage.com/mba-healthcare-management-salary-outlook/

This blog entitled, The Healthcare Post will be a weekly blog focusing on one of the most current controversial topics in America, healthcare. Topics of interest will vary from the renowned Affordable Healthcare Act, to the roles that both patients and providers play in healthcare. I plan to research and blog to inform readers about current issues arising in healthcare. As well as shed light on explanations of the rising cost of healthcare from a providers perspective.

Working in the healthcare field has opened my eyes to the severity of this issue, while highlighting how many people healthcare truly effects. From patients to providers, we all are taking a major hit, both financially and physically.

Ask yourself:  
Are you affected by the healthcare reform? Are you currently without health insurance? Have you opted to not receive health insurance through your job because it is unaffordable? Would you like for health insurance to be based solely on your income?

Journey with me into healthcare... Let's voice our opinions on an issue that effects us all! Let's make a change!