Healthcare.gov - So bad you have to start asking: Sabotage????

[Junkdrawer]

I mean, after a week, I can't log in and verify my profile.

Screw looking at my options or God forbid applying. I can't log on. I'm not alone.

...

AMY GOODMAN: "We apologize for the inconvenience. The Marketplace is currently undergoing regularly scheduled maintenance and will be back up Monday (10/7/3013)." That’s right, October 7th, 3013. That’s the message New Yorkers received this weekend when they attempted to sign up for health insurance via the new online health exchange or marketplace, a key component of "Obamacare."

While the New York site has taken down the notice, widespread computer problems have plagued websites across the nation since the state and federal marketplaces launched last Tuesday. Visitors to the federal healthcare.gov website also received a warning message reading, quote, "The system is down at the moment. We’re currently performing scheduled maintenance. Please try again later."

It’s unclear how many people have actually been able to sign up so far anywhere in the country for health insurance. The administration has not released any figures. According to Forbes, the number might be in the single digits, when they looked, for example, at California. On Tuesday, President Obama promised quick fixes to the problems.

...

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/10/7/computer_glitches_plague_obamacare_launch_as

Now, I'm not saying "The Government" is screwing this up on purpose. But if the Koch Brothers are willing to spend billions to kill Obamacare, how hard would it be to payoff a sufficiently senior programmer to produce a system that passes QA, but bombs COMPLETELY on rollout?

[Pretzel_Warrior]

1. single digits? bullshit.

The White House didn't provide numbers so we'll just make shit up.

And talk about conspiracy theories. Ugh.

[russspeakeasy]

2. When I said this a couple of days ago, I got.............crickets.

Hope your post draws some inputs.

[Coyotl]

3. I call Bullshit and Paranoia.

Get real.

[Junkdrawer]

20. You're right. It would be unsportsmanlike...

The Kochs would never stoop to that. What was I thinking?

[mshasta]

4. that's the way it looks

is not a conspiracy but it is something to be concern.

[Motown_Johnny]

5. I suggested this days ago

I think you can guess the response around here.

I actually self deleted it, but you can tell what it was about from the responses


http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023771667

[Junkdrawer]

9. I see what you mean. It just doesn't feel like a solid-but-overloaded piece of software....

Half of the error messages tell you your profile exists - Half of the error messages tell you your profile DOESN'T exist.

[PoliticAverse]

6. Well here's a basic problem, as each day passes more people hear about the health care exchanges,

this adds to the number of people that couldn't get in on an already overloaded system who keep trying every day.

[Mass]

7. According to Forbes??? Come on. Amy Goodman should know better.

There has clearly been problems, and anybody who has written complex programs knows that they are hard to test. They also seem to have been surprised by the interest and their servers may have been too small. This said, using Forbes numbers is just stupid. What next, WND?

[lostincalifornia]

10. Yes, that was from Forbes, and the writer is a right winger most likely

[Nuclear Unicorn]

8. Even if true that's hardly redeeming.

The complaint morphs from being technically inept to security inept. Are we supposed to give this website personally identifiable information?

[Junkdrawer]

13. So far, I can't get it to remember my phone or address....

So, I'm doubting anyone can steal the info..I hope....

[Nuclear Unicorn]

14. "I can't get it to remember my phone or address"

Yeah, I get like that sometimes myself but at least mine is chemically induced.

[Junkdrawer]

15. OK. Healthcare.gov, we're going to have to ask you to pee in this cup....

[kestrel91316]

11. The RW has said they wanted to launch a DDOS attack. And I was told by a rep on live chat at Covere

CA today that the website problems are due to high volume traffic.

So put two and two together.

[Junkdrawer]

12. I've seen DDOS attacks. Here you promptly hit login glitch after glitch....

With DDOS attacks, you get long pauses followed by site-not-found messages.

[REP]

17. Ssh. Don't confuse anyone with facts.

A rollout of a massive program's website with millions of people trying to log on having technical difficulties in the early phases? This never happens! Just ask Apple or Google or Amazon or Netflix ... It must a DDOS attack.



Jesus wept.

[Sgent]

16. The website

works like it was designed by corporate consultants who know very little web design. For instance, they had (initially) people loading 63 different script and CSS files -- something that should have been consolidated on the fly to two. This increases load by a huge amount.

It also seems like its hitting multiple databases really hard. Database reads should not be so intensive unless they're poorly designed, and you can throw more resources at the problem (database writes are harder to deal with).

The whole thing acts and looks like a combination of EDS and IBM designed it for a corporate intranet, rather than someone with expertise like google or even yahoo.

[Niceguy1]

27. the company used

has a track record of not being able to do this complex of the job. They couldn't even pull off the same thing for Canada.

[Holly_Hobby]

18. You're not alone

Here's my thread I started earlier today about this issue in the computer help group:

[link:http://www.democraticunderground.com/10958405|

I have tried everything I can think of and the things suggested on the reply to my thread...without success.

Absolutely unacceptable. Something is going on.

[Ohio Joe]

19. We knew it was being sabotaged last Feb.

Most, if not all red states decided not to create web sites so that all the people there would have to use the govt site. You have more then half the country trying to use a single site... Why would anyone not expect delays with it?

[Roland99]

21. An all-at-once release for full-frontal assault instead of a phased rollout...

gee...how could it not work perfectly from day 1???

[Junkdrawer]

22. so far from "work perfectly from day 1" it's not a joke....

No one I know can register. We promptly hit bugs. This isn't just "excess traffic" - it's completely dysfunctional software.

And it's so dysfunctional, it starts to beg questions.

[temeraire]

23. Sabotage or Incompetence

I work in IT.

The idea that you can spend $200 million and get a site where people CAN'T LOG IN is outrageous. It is beyond incompetent. They could have used AWS (Amazon) which is instantly scaleable -- if it's a matter of traffic, which I doubt. The 'glitches' reported are a lot more than glitches. This isn't just 'site unavailable' -- it's a site which is completely riddled with errors. Simply astounding. Where did the money go?? I for one have begun to think that it almost has to be sabotage. Nothing could have been done this poorly (by the private sector, what's more!) unless it was done on purpose.

[cyberswede]

24. I thought this piece on NPR this morning was interesting

Why HealthCare.gov Isn't Like A Typical E-Commerce Site

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=239534289

I agree with the premise that the site should have worked more like a mortgage application site - enter some specifics (age, income), get a ballpark figure of what you're likely to pay, and then only enter your personal details when you're ready to buy.

[gopiscrap]

25. welcome to DU

[uppityperson]

28. Welcome to Du. Do you like your bullocks raw or cooked and highly spiced?

If this makes sense, it will. If it makes no sense, ignore it. If that makes sense.

[Curmudgeoness]

29. This site is nothing like an Amazon or eBay.

The glitches are mostly related to all the other sites that have to be accessed through this site. It has links to the IRS, SSA, as well as all the different insurance companies. If even one of the links is to a site that is not working properly, everything fails. It is possible that some of these insurance companies did not have the server capacity for the volume it needed. There were ways to avoid this, and you are correct that they should have done better, but this is not even comparable to marketplace sites.

Welcome to DU.

[Squinch]

26. Have you tried applying over the phone?