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* UPDATED x1 * Can’t anybody play this game?

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* The Obamacare mess in context…

In explaining the relatively low figures, administration officials cite problems with the federal website that have prevented people from signing up. But they also say experience shows people wait until the last minute.

When Massachusetts expanded health coverage in 2007, only 123 of the 36,167 people who ultimately signed up did so during the first month of enrollment. But more than 7,000 signed up in the final month.

OK, fine. So why wasn’t that made crystal clear by the administration long ago? Plus, that website. Ugh. And the lie that everybody would be able to keep their insurance if they wanted to? Disgusting. Oh, and then there are all the howls and crocodile tears from the loyal opposition which offers zero truly constructive alternatives. Can’t anybody play this game? The idea is to govern.

* From Obamacare to driver’s licenses…

The phone lines ring busy, the website isn’t much help and nerves are fraying for residents hoping to book appointments to apply for a Temporary Visitor’s Driver’s License from the Illinois Secretary of State.

Complaints about the sign-up process are mounting, days after the state opened a long-awaited appointment booking website and telephone hotline to non-U.S. citizens who want to apply.

More…

“We had to design the system in a way with four pilot facilities available launching on Dec. 3 and 10, that we could study how this works in this controlled environment,” said Secretary of State spokesman Henry Haupt. “And this is giving us the opportunity to make any adjustments.”

Haput said the pilot program is working as planned. The state intentionally limited the appointment numbers to 117 a day. Twenty-one additional facilities are scheduled to open in January, and Haupt said that will allow the state to increase its capacity for appointments starting later in December.

Until then, people can continue trying to sign up on a daily basis until slots are full.

Ere Rendon with ICIRR said about 10 out of 100 people her organization worked with were successful in scheduling an appointment.

She thinks the pilot program could have been communicated better from the beginning so people wouldn’t feel panicked when they couldn’t get through.

No kidding.

* And on to the Philippines…

Surrounded by mountains of boxes of donated goods and dozens of volunteers — some of whom openly wept — Gov. Pat Quinn declared Friday: “We are all Filipinos today, all across Illinois!” […]

But that relief effort has hit a snag, organizers at the center said Friday. A military contractor bringing supplies to the Philippines was supposed to be providing room on his aircraft, which hasn’t yet got off the ground.

“We believe right now that he’s caught up in red tape,” said Rose Tibayan, one of the relief effort organizers. “So we’re trying to find other means to get it over there.”

Quinn said his office is working with the U.S. Department of Defense to allow an Illinois National Guard transport plane to deliver supplies.

Oy.

*** UPDATE *** Oh, for Pete’s sake…

Countless local state retirees hoping to learn more about enrolling in a Medicare Advantage health plan have been left without the help meeting they were promised, because the meeting location was way too small for the crowd.

Traffic was jammed around the Illinois Terminal building where a 9:30 a.m. meeting was being held, and crowds of people were turned away while others stayed in the lobby to argue with an apologetic State Sen. Mike Frerichs who was scheduled to speak. […]

Frerichs spoke only briefly, and also had the unpleasant task of telling people who managed to get some of the limited seats that if they parked in certain places they were subject to finding parking tickets when they got out of the meeting. [Emphasis added.]

What. The. Heck.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 12:09 pm

Comments

===The idea is to govern.===

Exactly. Well said.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 12:16 pm
There are bound to some bumps in the road in a relief effort from North America to Asia.

But the United States already has put troops on the ground to aid in recovery, emergency airlifts are underway, $20 million in government aid has been pledged for starters, and you know the effort of American citizens will be massive.

China has pledged $100,000. Thanks, neighbor.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 12:18 pm
My sympathies and prayers go out to the people of the Philippines for their devastating loss. A storm 5X that of Katrina is hard to imagine.

As to the Obamacare website “screwup”. Just remember it is all about putting more people on Medicaid.

Comment by BIG R. Ph. Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 12:29 pm
In the face of protest, China upped its help to a whopping $1.4 million.

Comment by 4 percent Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 12:29 pm
ACA - didn’t want to confuse the message with facts

SOS - drasticallty underestimated the demand

Phillipines - wordslinger said it all

Comment by RNUG Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 12:31 pm
If you want to help, send money. This organization is highly ranked and well recommended.

http://www.globalgiving.org/

Comment by Soccermom Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 12:33 pm
Rich, you forgot to add the “Ventra” card rollout at the CTA, which has been a problem from day one. People getting overcharged. People being a charged a second time while exiting a bus. Computer freeze ups causing 15,000 free rides one evening this week. You hit the nail on the head: what happened to “governing?”

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 12:43 pm
Doing big things is hard. And, we are the best at doing hard things. Because we live in an imperfect world, we will have imperfect outcomes. The defining difference between success and failure is the reaction to the difficulty - not the difficulty itself.

Comment by nothin's easy Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 12:44 pm
I agree it hasn’t been a great two months for government.

I think to feel better about life I may board the Red Line and take it down to 95th, then just turn around and reboard back to the Loop.

Comment by ZC Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 1:15 pm
Old adage in the software/systems development business:

There is:
1) Good Software/Systems
2) Fast software/Systems
3) Inexpensive Software/Systems.

…… PICK TWO!

——–

Just as a point to think about when you have government initiated and controlled software
development projects (whether in-house or outsourced):

When you do government projects, it’s almost always to match up to a set of existing laws (think ‘Terms and Conditions’).

A lot of times one finds that very specific and detailed provisions in the existing laws that you have to code to were written a very long time ago (more than 50 years++ old), and in more than a few cases, don’t match up at all as to how things are done in today’s world.

Can’t tell you the number of times where I have seen specific legal requirements on notifications and procedures where a name change occurs on a record, but the actual legal requirements (no kidding!) require that the names on the records can only be changed at a later time. So you have a mandatory record imbalance environment.

That may not seem like a big deal, but in software development that’s a serious pain in the tailbone. All the sudden you can end up with records out of sync, and proper notifications don’t occur. And that’s just one ultra tiny example that takes a ton of coding to deal with.

Think about how many different government functions are totally dependent on the USPS for legal notifications. Or newspapers for legal notices. As amazing as it is, I’ve found that the USPS is far better at dealing with digital data transfer than most newspapers.

As far as “Governing”? Try getting an IT/DP director who’s really good at software development to work for local or state government. Bluntly, they would either quit first or eventually die of the tech equivalent of overwork, malnutrition, and loneliness. Oh, and ‘meetingitis’…..

The governing leadership in most governmental units is sooooo tech inept that they are at least 5 years out of date, and that’s normally best case. If you are really into software/System development work, you don’t even look in government’s direction.

It’s a barren wasteland.

Comment by Judgment Day (Road Trip) Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 1:16 pm
++++++ Complaints about the sign-up process are mounting, days after the state opened a long-awaited appointment booking website and telephone hotline to non-U.S. citizens who want to apply.

ROFL, Gun-owning citizens can only wish that they could get appointments for their required ownership cards, or that they could apply thru a website. Or call and get someone on the phone.

Comment by Palanon Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 1:26 pm
I wish PQ was there today to witness both the number and attitude of those state retirees impacted by the Medicare Advantage fiasco/scam. Multiply this by about 100 and you may get some sense of what is waiting for him in the next general election. These people are not happy and most are convinced they are getting screwed. Add to this an incompetent response by CMS and you get some seriously motivated voters come next Fall………are any Dems listening? Are any GOPhers? Add to all of this with “Pension Reform/Theft” that is coming and I’d say PQ and crew have a problem…….it’s not just the numbers it’s the attitude!

Comment by Old and in the Way Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 1:34 pm
“The idea is to govern.”

Harharhar, Rich. That’s *supposed to* be the idea, and it is what we, the people deserve, expect and should get. But far too many of them channel Herm Edwards–”You PLAY to WIN the GAME”–and are in it to “win”–and what exactly ‘winning’ is to each of them is rarely about what is best for we, the people.

Comment by Chris Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 1:34 pm
“OK, fine. So why wasn’t that made crystal clear by the administration long ago? Plus, that website. Ugh. And the lie that everybody would be able to keep their insurance if they wanted to? Disgusting. Oh, and then there are all the howls and crocodile tears from the loyal opposition which offers zero truly constructive alternatives. Can’t anybody play this game? The idea is to govern.”

Ok, here’s a totally crazy idea as an cACA alternative coming from a tech standpoint:

Only problem is that all the special interest groups across the board will rise up against this plan. Why? - because it takes on all the various ‘rent seekers’ and kicks them to the sidelines.

1) Focus on the two (2) critical parties you absolutely have to have - (a) Patients (think ‘demand’), and (b) Doctors, nurses (think ’supply’). They are your ‘primary key’, if you will. Everybody else is a secondary key - no exceptions. They don’t count.
2) Keep the individual mandate penalty. Sounds crazy, you’ll see why later
3) Encourage doctors/medical groups to form what are called ‘concierge’ practices. They don’t take insurance (cash, checks, credit cards - no insurance). Also, if it is a ‘concierge’ practice, there’s got to be major tort reform to protect these ‘concierge’ practices.
4) K

Comment by Judgment Day (Road Trip) Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 1:45 pm
Poor Frerichs. Here he was hoping he’d have a great day of meeting seniors in need during his campaign and instead he gets to be the face of “the government which can’t get its act together.” Mike is a great guy although I’m sure he’s chewing some people out right now for screwing this up.

Comment by Hey There Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 1:46 pm
Sorry…

4) Keep (actually, expand) the Medical Saving Accounts. Say, annual person match of up to $12,000 per yr. ($1k per month). Also direct the penalty money, plus an equivalent match into the HSA system for each person.
5) Keep the ACA ‘Exchanges’. Those are a good idea, only make them statewide/regional. They would offer bare bones ‘Major Medical only’ plans that you could only select IF you went with the ‘concierge’ practice plan for the small stuff. Major procedures only, high deductible, period.

Now, as you can imagine, this approach just blew up a whole lot of special interest groups. In fact, it’s probably hard to think of one that didn’t take a serious hit.

Is it perfect? No chance. I wouldn’t even say ‘good’. But right now we’re at 11:30 PM and we got 30 minutes before it all comes tumbling down, and our 2 alternatives look to be ‘Bad’ and ‘Worse’, so ‘Average’ sounds pretty good.

And in any case, what’s their plan?

Comment by Judgment Day (Road Trip) Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 1:56 pm
Per the News-Gazette: “Countless local state retirees …”

Just because you didn’t count them doesn’t mean there were countless.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 1:56 pm
In defense of the SOS, who could have guessed with any certainty the participation rate? You are asking people who are here illegally to walk into a government building, which has SOS police officers stationed there who are sworn to uphold the law including arresting individuals who are known to be here illegally. Risking arrest. Then the individual must show proof of residence and agree to have their landlord called to verify that this person has lived there, possibly with family, for some time. Risking eviction. Then have their picture taken to be added to a facial recognition database. A slow rollout makes sense. The overwhelming requests is surprising, but, who knew?
From an IT standpoint, whether it is ACA or TVDL, the only impact of heavy volume should be a minimum delay in response times.

Comment by Casual Observer Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 1:59 pm
CMS has been booking venues of 500+ for these meetings. Illinois Terminal downtown Champaign can maybe hold 100, and that’s if they’re packed in like sardines…

Comment by Mr. Jim Lahey Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 2:04 pm
–Per the News-Gazette: “Countless local state retirees …”

Just because you didn’t count them doesn’t mean there were countless.–

Yeah, I spotted that, too. Terrible writing. Apparently, absolutely no editing.

C’mon. It’s the first word in the lede of an important news story. Can anybody play this game? Simple declarative ledes aren’t heavy lifting, but when they’re right, they sing.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 2:08 pm
I attended a meeting in Normal at the ISU Alumni Center that the ISU chapter of SUAA gave to share some info to their members. There was such a demand for these meetings that the chapter added two more sessions. I attended the first session and it had a few empty seats. A friend said that the third session was packed. Don’t know about the attendance at the second one.

Now, my understanding is that this room that seats about 300 is to be used for two sessions by CMS and their roadshow on Nov. 26. Those sessions will include not only ISU retirees but hundreds of retired teachers and state workers such as state troopers and others!

I called Rep. Dan Brady’s office this afternoon–he is listed as one of the sponsors. I told staff of the room capacity that will be easily exceeded with only two sessions. His secretary said that the president of the ISU SUAA had also called and expressed his concerns.

There have been additional sites for meetings added for the suburbs since the original list was published. However, I do not see any new sites added for central and southern Illinois.

If people can’t get in to get the info, they are going to be upset. A lot of the folks I saw were not happy about this change and were vocal. These are the kinds of people who do get out and vote.

Comment by Nearly Normal Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 2:13 pm
CMS has told IEA and others that if they want to sponsor an additional site — which means to get a location and pay for the room charge which is $600 and up–and if there is CMS staff to do the presentation, they are adding the site and date to the list.

Comment by Nearly Normal Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 2:17 pm
=== Can’t anybody play this game? The idea is to govern. ===

^ this x 1 million.

You want to preach? Become a pastor.

You want attention? Learn to play the guitar or hone your rap game.

You want to make money? Become banker, trader, skilled tradesman, etc.

You want to give your family and friends jobs? Start a business.

This is known as public service for a reason.

And it’s not so you can line up 10 pensions, act like a prima donna, get your buddies jobs or throw tantrums like a petulant child.

Comment by Formerly Known As... Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 2:18 pm
To be fair to Rep Brady’s staff–they are looking at working with CMS and the Alumni Center to see about the room situation. Maybe there is a larger venue that can be arranged.

Comment by Nearly Normal Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 2:20 pm
==people who managed to get some of the limited seats that if they parked in certain places they were subject to finding parking tickets when they got out of the meeting.==

Don’t you love it when a plan comes together?

Wordslinger — maybe “countless” means they don’t count,or had no member of the nobility to lead them?

Comment by Anon. Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 2:20 pm
“they were subject to finding parking tickets”

What’s this?
Overzealous, aggressive parking enforcement?
In a college town?

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 2:32 pm
I’m not one of those of Americans who thinks its our responsibility, or in our interest, or productive, to get involved in every civil war around the world, looking for dragons to slay, no matter how repulsive and nasty they are.

But I am proud that whenever there’s a natural disaster anywhere in the world, Americans are the first to come running with the goods, while the rest of the alleged big hitters on the planet are still looking for their wallets or fumbling for their car keys.

The American taxpayer responds first through aid delivered by the military and then American citizens go large with their private donations.

It happens all the time. But the one disaster that stands out to me was the earthquake around Bam, Iran in 2003, that killed 40,000.

The U.S. and Iran weren’t exactly sweet on each other at the time. But the Iranian government couldn’t do anything soon enough to help its people. No one else around the world raised their hands to help.

The U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marines delivered the goods to the people. No charge. It’s on us. Please, don’t thank us.

The effort didn’t change any politics, but so what? Humanity should trump politics every time.

I think Americans’ instinctive, immediate humanitarian response to disasters around the world has something to do with the immigrant experience and the Melting Pot. We’re all from somewhere else, and we all know someone from the somewhere else that just got whacked.

Call it the better angels of our nature. I can dig it.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 2:39 pm
Wordslinger: Amen to all that.

Comment by walkinfool Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 2:52 pm
If we’re looking for a parade of government horribles, Ventra simply must be on the list. While lots have been written about Obamacare, relatively little has come out about what led to the problems. Heads should roll on that one since Claypool was warned early and repeatedly about problems with the system. He ignored those warning and pushed this disaster on CTA riders. Our investigative friends need to get on that one.

Comment by Chicago Cynic Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 2:56 pm
CC, I’m with you on Ventra.

It’s been a rolling disaster: old cards with money on them that should work, but don’t; old cards that can be loaded and used in some places, but not others. Old machines, taken out, new machines not working.

And the poor old former ticket-takers in the booths (what do they do now?) with no information or options except to let everyone through for free. I’ve seen it a half dozen times in the last month.

Do reporters ride the El any longer? They must, it’s not like they’re making any money.

What was the upside of Ventra, again? You could use it on CTA and PACE? You used to be able to do that under the current system. You didn’t need a new one. And you still can’t use it on Metra.

Can anybody play this game?

By the way, Rich is channeling Casey Stengel on the 1964 Mets.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 3:08 pm
The GOP controlled House of Representatives has just passed some legislation, with the help of some democrats, just passed some legislation to help bridge the gap for those whose insurance was terminated but who won’t be able to secure new insurance due to the DC debacle.

Would that constitute governing?

Comment by dupage dan Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 3:16 pm
“they were subject to finding parking tickets”
you would think some staffers could have gone around and fed the meters.

Comment by Downstater Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 3:22 pm
“The idea is to govern.”

Not really, from the perspective of public choice economoics the incentives are aligned and “the idea is to get re-elected”. It’s up to the electorate to hold the responsible for governing well and make re-election conditional on that. And we, the people, have emphatically NOT been doing that, nationally or in Illinois.

Governing involves hard choices and inevitably some dissatisfied people, and we reward the best promises not the best performance.

Comment by Harry Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 3:35 pm
Can’t believe no on has complained about the Springfield meeting that took place at the Legacy Theater on Tuesday. Yes, that venue…with no parking, on a busy street, and no parking allowed in nearby lots. It was beyond standing room only with many turned away at the door. That was only secondary to the number of cars that were towed during the first meeting. What’s wrong with using a church with a large lot, or any of the other venues associated with UIS or LLCC??

Comment by Former State Employee Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 3:40 pm
Why is anyone surprised? Obamacare was designed to be unworkable and its failure was planned to be a prelude to adopting a single payer system to the applause of all of the leftists. The key complaint is that it is proving to be unworkable too quickly. It was not supposed to tank for several years after millions had enrolled.

It is wonderful to have legislators who will cast uninformed votes without studying bills.

Comment by Tilt Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 3:48 pm
It took me 6 weeks to get my Chicago Card Plus account transfered over. Never got the E-mail. No instructions on the CTA or Ventra site. Nobody answering the phone. E-mail not answered. Finally, after the cards had been out there for weeks, the Ventra site finally gave conversion instructions. I got a whole lot of free rides out of it. But there was no excuse for the incompetance and confusion.

“CC, I’m with you on Ventra.

It’s been a rolling disaster: old cards with money on them that should work, but don’t; old cards that can be loaded and used in some places, but not others. Old machines, taken out, new machines not working.

And the poor old former ticket-takers in the booths (what do they do now?) with no information or options except to let everyone through for free. I’ve seen it a half dozen times in the last month.

Do reporters ride the El any longer? They must, it’s not like they’re making any money.

What was the upside of Ventra, again? You could use it on CTA and PACE? You used to be able to do that under the current system. You didn’t need a new one. And you still can’t use it on Metra.

Can anybody play this game?

By the way, Rich is channeling Casey Stengel on the 1964 Mets.”

Comment by AFSCME Steward Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 4:02 pm
Old and in the Way @ 1:34 pm:

Having waded through the State Medicare Advantage program offering packets, I can honestlty say that the 65+ state retirees ARE getting screwed. While the “new” offering is better than standard Medicare with a standard supplement, it is NOT as good as the current Medicare primary / state insurance (HA, QC, etc.) combination in place today.

By general election time the retirees will have paid almost a year of new co-pays and deductibles … and will be even madder than they are now!

Comment by RNUG Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 5:15 pm
If you are a retiree living in Champaign County you received 2 lbs 14 oz of literature describing the two Medicare Advantage plans you must chose for your health coverage. No wonder there was a crowd!

Comment by capncrunch Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 5:20 pm
While we’re railing on CMS, don’t forget the heckuva job they’re doing to that same retiree population with the “Dependent Eligibility Verification Audit.” Hiring an Indiana company -who only gets paid if enough people are kicked off the rolls- to send out threatening letters to retirees demanding birth certificates, wedding licenses, and income tax details (while the Feds were shut down) has been a huge FUBAR from the get-go.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 5:21 pm
“Why is anyone surprised? Obamacare was designed to be unworkable and its failure was planned to be a prelude to adopting a single payer system to the applause of all of the leftists. The key complaint is that it is proving to be unworkable too quickly. It was not supposed to tank for several years after millions had enrolled.”

This paranoid sentiment above is why despite my disappointment with Obama of late, I feel I must continue to enthusiastically support the Democrats…

Comment by ZC Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 5:45 pm
FSEE@3:40 - They have scheduled a number of additional meetings in Springfield. Yesterday there were meetings at Hope Church - several of them during the day. I went with my wife and there were more of those uncounted retirees there that I would estimate at 200-300, maybe more. The lot was full, the overflow lot was full, there were cars on the grass, the room was full, the overflow room was full. This is not a tiny church. I had the sense they will do this until the need is met.

Leaving the state and its retirees and retirement systems aside, I have never been able to understand why Medicare Advantage even exists in the first place. I’ve finally decided it’s a pseudo-free-market sop to the insurance companies that don’t get Medicare contracts in a particular state to give them a piece of the action. If that’s true, then the reason for Illinois going to Medicare Advantage - being kind of dim, I never got that either - is simply for the state, or more likely its politically connected contractors, to make money off the retirees. Now that’s an idea everybody can get behind.

Comment by Excessively Rabid Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 6:44 pm
“SOS police officers stationed there who are sworn to uphold the law including arresting individuals who are known to be here illegally”………

SOS enforcing immigration laws in Illinois…..Seriously?

With all the things people have to worry about in Illinois, this is certainly NOT one of them.!

Comment by OLD BRASS Friday, Nov 15, 13 @ 7:21 pm
So, anyone going to a Carlecare doctor can continue going to a Carlecare doctor and Medicare Advantage will pay the same 90% it will pay if one goes to a network doctor. So what is the big deal? And, btw, those who have Medicare spouses will be paying a substantially reduced premium for their coverage.

After scaring the retirees for no good reason, these politicians, many of whom opened the floodgates by enacting legislation allowing the Gov to jack up retiree payments, are being hoisted on their own petard, as they say.
This they truly deserve

Comment by Truthteller Saturday, Nov 16, 13 @ 7:17 am