I have been an enthusiastic supporter of the Affordable Care Act since its passage, a position that is hard to take in Texas. I was one of the millions of Americans without insurance and the ACA was promising for my situation. I bought insurance for myself on the exchange without a hitch. But buying insurance for my family was another matter and one that has me absolutely enraged. Follow me below the fold for details
As I mentioned before, I obtained coverage through the ACA. However, I am a separate taxpayer from my family and they are also uninsured. So I am helping them sign up. Since Texas decided not to create its own exchange, they would sign up through the Federal marketplace. I began the process of signing them up about two weeks ago but they are still stuck due some glitches in the exchange, which is beyond frustrating.
My family consists of my father, mother, one brother and two sisters. As nuclear as it gets, save for the fact that my parents are naturalized citizens. We have paperwork for everything and i filled it out correctly to a T. Once I am finished with the questions, I get to the last screen--the validation screen where the applicant virtually signs the form. This is the screen of death. For the last two weeks I have been getting the same yellow screen telling me that their validation system is down.
I have filled out multiple applications. I called the customer service line twice Waited an hour both times before I spoke to a rep. The first rep was immensly helpful but she could not find the application even when I gave her my father's SS number and application number. Nothing. She said that she had come across the validation error but said it should be fixed and that she hasn't come across this problem today. So I removed the application yet another time and started over. Same result. Called again.
The second rep was really standoff-ish. She told me that she couldn't even access the system. How the fuck can you not access the system when you're customer support??? Pretty much told me that she couldn't help me and to call back later. By this point I'm fucking pissed. How can you not even find an application in the system and how can your validation system be down for TWO WEEKS?? No ETA, nothing. I asked the lady what would happen if my family couldn't sign up by the deadline. She said that they would have to pay the premium by the 31st. I asked how can they pay a premium if they arent able to sign up? She literally repeated herself. It was ridiculous. This was also in contrast to what the first rep told me which was that we had until 2:30 AM to sign up. I asked if the deadline had been extended and the second lady told me that they had to pay the premium by the 31st. It felt like a kabuki circus.
I feel like I am stupid for supporting something that in implementation has been so flawed.
If anyone has had a similar experience and has found a solution or has a suggestion, it would be fantastic and I would be eternally grateful.