The Obamacare program’s flagship website is so error-prone and user-unfriendly that Consumer Reports magazine has thrown up its hands in disgust, advising readers to ‘stay away from Healthcare.gov for at least another month if you can.’
The website’s messy launch has been the subject of endless news reports, talk show segments and late-night comedy bits – adding to a full-time congressional inquiry and, now, questions about why Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is refusing to testify on Capitol Hill.
But Consumer Reports, the toaster-testing, TV-rating consumer powerhouse, is on the case.
Before October 1, the magazine was a major booster of President Obama’s health insurance overhaul plan, devoting several pages in its latest issue to an optimistic ‘step-by-step guide.’
But the print edition was completed weeks before the Obamacare enrollment website actually launched. And once its crashes became the stuff of political and geek-tech legend, the editors told Americans to run away at full speed.
On launch day, the Consumer Reports blog counseled patience.
‘If you’re planning to use the marketplace to get health insurance for 2014, don’t worry if you can’t sign up today or even within the next couple of weeks,’ read one reassuring message.
