Here's Why The New Obamacare Site Is Such A Disaster
There have been numerous complaints about the new marketplace for the Affordable Care Act.
HealthCare.gov lets you compare health care insurance by helping you understand your options. But less than a week in to the launch, the government has since admitted that its site is flawed, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Here's a quick list of some of the problems:
- There's no clear description of what the Affordable Care Act is, and why you should enroll.
- Many people have been locked out of the Web site.
- Just hours after it launched, the site crashed.
- The "Help" options are lacking. You may be forced to wait 30 minutes to speak with someone over the phone. If you use the Web site, you may experience some difficulties with the live chat.
- The function to "chat" with someone for help on the site was described by Slate as "Kafkaesque" because it's so ineffective.
- The application process can be tedious. Some users say it takes a while and is filled with too many data entry prompts.
- There are a slew of technical issues. Users have complained about having issues creating an account, as well as a bunch of page errors that often little or no explanation at all.
Meanwhile, there are all kinds of straight-up awkward aspects relating to design.
The wording isn't always totally clear. Should you click "Apply Now" or "Start Here"?
The carousel is entirely unnecessary, the Washington Post notes. In fact, tests have proven that very few people interact with carousels, so users miss a lot of that content.
HealthCare.gov/Screenshot
The site map is basically useless. It's overloaded with way too much information.
HealthCare.gov/Screenshot
Same goes for the glossary.
HealthCare.gov/Screenshot
If you've been able to figure out how to start the sign-up process, you may quickly get confused when you're directed away from HealthCare.gov to some other site, depending on which state you live in.
If you live in California, you'll be directed to a site called Covered California. It has an entirely different look and feel from HealthCare.gov.
From this point, getting through the application process isn't too bad. Though, it would certainly be better if there were fewer pages to load.
The sign-up process also feels a bit redundant. For example, I probably specified that I was an individual or a family at least three times throughout the process. Once you've registered for your state-specific program, you're finally ready to start comparing health insurance plans.