Sunday Hours: Obamacare Website To Be Shut Down For Portion of Most Weekends

[ehrnst]

The Trump administration plans to shut down the federal health insurance exchange for 12 hours during all but one Sunday in the upcoming open enrollment season.

The shutdown will occur from 12 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET on every Sunday except Dec. 10.

The Department of Health and Human Services will also shut down the federal exchange — healthcare.gov — overnight on the first day of open enrollment, Nov. 1. More than three dozen states use that exchange for their marketplaces.

HHS officials disclosed this information Friday during a webinar with community groups that help people enroll.

The Trump administration has come under attack from critics who say that it is intentionally undermining the Affordable Care Act, through regulatory actions. It shortened the enrollment period, withdrew money for advertising and cut the budget for navigator groups, which help people shop for plans.

And now HHS is closing the site for a substantial portion of each weekend — for maintenance, officials said. That is the same time that many working patients — the prime target group for ACA insurance — could be shopping for their insurance, critics noted.

http://khn.org/news/hhs-to-close-insurance-exchange-for-12-hours-on-sundays-during-enrollment/

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. He and the GOP are murderers, I wish we would get mad.

This is a violent, deadly attack on the American people by our president and our government.

An intentional act to prevent people from getting healthcare so they will die.

[ehrnst]

2. I'm furious.

And they will say that disease kills people - not lack of insurance, and people have all these other days of the week to look for healthcare, and people who take care of themselves and lead good lives don't get that ill, and if they do, they probably were responsible enough to get a job with benefits, yadda....

I think that Jimmy Kimmel is doing a great job of focusing his fury, using the microphone he has.

My fury is focused on trying to keep the ACA intact, and promote facts and dispel misinformation about health care policy, because I have some experience in not-for-profit health policy analysis world.

Other people can share their stories of their children, and others that the GOP will have a hard time demonizing as lazy, or irresponsible.

[mopinko]

3. bare faced liars.

[wasupaloopa]

4. They need to change the name to

Hell and Human Suffering

[renate]

5. Pure vindictiveness n/t