Krugman- Soon, Obamacare Will Become Benghazi [View all]

[n2doc]

OK, I just created an Obamacare account for myself (if I broke any laws, please, it was just investigative journalism). I went all the way through the process at healthcare.gov, stopping before the final step of actually applying (I don’t qualify, of course, because Princeton provides insurance), just to see how hard it was. And the answer is that it was no problem at all, with no delays.

I also used the information only feature to get a listing of plans in my area. Again, no problem. And healthcare.gov directs you to Kaiser for an estimate of subsidies and final cost.

Now, I know that this is only part of the story, and we’re still not getting clear answers on how well the 834 transmissions — which send the information to insurers — are working. But the visible parts of the process bear no resemblance to the horror stories of a few weeks ago.

Why did I carry out this little exercise? Well, I scanned the comments on today’s column and noticed a lot of people reporting having successfully enrolled in Obamacare — not at one of the well-functioning state exchanges, but at the supposedly disastrous healthcare.gov. Just anecdotes, I know — but anecdotes suggesting that the system is no longer the black hole of yore.

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http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/25/soon-obamacare-will-become-benghazi/