Health Care Web Site Glitches Continue; Young Complain of High Cost of ObamaCare Policies
HOLMES: Republicans questioning the IRS today about ObamaCare, Congressman Darrell Issa says he wants to uncover any problems that might lie ahead for the IRS as it works to implement the healthcare law. Meanwhile, the partial government shutdown has caused more than 90 percent of the IRS workforce to be furloughed. A Treasury Department spokeswoman says, despite the constraints, though, they're going to be doing all they can to continue to implement the law. Suzanne?</s>MALVEAUX: And it has been a frustrating nine days for people hoping to sign up for the health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Well, right, we at CNN, we tried each day to access the site, and today -- today -- Elizabeth Cohen and her team of producers, they got mixed results. You guys have been at this for days now. And one of your producers finally got through. Explain how that happened?</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So one of my producers, William Hudson, he tried early this morning and he actually managed to create an account and log in. It was very exciting because he's been trying every day, as have I, since last Tuesday. A couple hours later, I tried and I did manage to create a user name and password, which was great because I hadn't gotten that far before. But when I went to log in and try to select a plan and all of that, it wouldn't log me in. So I called the number that was on the screen -</s>MALVEAUX: Yes.</s>COHEN: -- and the woman said, I'm sorry you're having this experience, but due to high volume, we have some glitches, and you did everything right, and just try again later on. And she -- it's interesting. She specifically said, try doing it early morning or late at night when there are fewer users.</s>MALVEAUX: And you got a human being which is really tough to do these day in an automated system.</s>COHEN: Yes, an automated system, but quickly got a human being and she explained it very clearly to me. So I'm going to try again at the hours that she suggested and see if that helps. But still -- I still, as of today at whatever it's at, 12:00-whatever, I have not been able to successfully log in to the account.</s>MALVEAUX: It can be a very frustrating experience, but you have learned some things about the plan itself, and there are some Millennials who are wondering, should I sign up? Should I get involved in here? Is it going to be more expensive for me under ObamaCare to get health insurance? What have you found?</s>COHEN: Right, so some people in their 20s who don't get insurance through their employer are thinking, how am I going to do in the exchanges? Am I going to be better off? And there's been some complaints that it's actually more expensive post-ObamaCare on the exchanges than pre-ObamaCare. We talked to some experts and they said, look, people in their 20s may find that it's now more expensive. But here's the issue, before ObamaCare they maybe got a good price, but they weren't getting good policies. They were kind of getting what they paid for, and then when they got sick and wanted to use the insurance, they were disappointed that it wasn't very good. So it's -- I think it's -- what is clear now is that, when you go in, you're getting a real policy. You're getting a policy that is going to actually give you varying levels of service, but it's going to give you good service. That's according to the woman we talked to at Consumer Reports. And it's also important to mention that people in their 20s often are not earning a lot of money, so a lot of them will be eligible for subsidies.</s>MALVEAUX: OK, well, that's a good thing. I know -- I mean, as a young person they often think, I'm never going to get ill. I never get sick.</s>COHEN: Right.</s>MALVEAUX: But you know what? It happens.</s>COHEN: And you don't want to be that person. You don't want to not go to the doctor when you're sick. You want to have insurance.</s>MALVEAUX: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thanks.</s>COHEN: Thank you.</s>MALVEAUX: Check back with us on the site.</s>COHEN: OK, I will. I'll tell you how it goes tonight. I certainly will.</s>MALVEAUX: All right, thank you. Michael?</s>HOLMES: All right, well, we're talking a lot about the government shutdown but, of course, in eight days the U.S. hits that debt ceiling. Right now Congress is undecided on whether or not to raise it. That worries a lot of people. But you know what? There are some Republican lawmakers questioning whether going past the deadline will really mean a government default. We'll discuss.