Mark Jaquith is a lead developer for Wordpress so he’s pretty familiar with good web design. Mark has been trying to buy insurance over healthcare.gov since October. It hasn’t been going well.
Previously when Mark tried to buy insurance the website struggled to understand his complicated family structure: Mark is married and has two children. Sounds easy, right? You’d think so but healthcare.gov insisted that his wife was either the sibling or perhaps the daughter of his son. That was more than a month ago. Surely things are better now?
Today seems like a nice day to attempt for the… 5th time, I think… to get through the http://t.co/HR9enYw2S3 gauntlet.
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
Just a few login hurdles to clear first:
1. Which grandmother?!
2. How many unique American grandmother nicknames do you actually think there are? pic.twitter.com/k0GzCrJKKd
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
So, never, then? pic.twitter.com/lRrMxKEFIR
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
But… clicking “Save & Continue” is what made this message pop up! pic.twitter.com/HUZLLw5dMm
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
No problem though. There’s a way around every setback:
http://t.co/HR9enYw2S3 now says I can call a number to verify my identity. Scans of my passport are no good; a phone call should sort it!
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
Oh god, I’m calling.
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
Called the phone verification number. Was asked for a reference #. Not my Application #. Need to go through whole application again for that
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
Completing the http://t.co/HR9enYw2S3 application AGAIN so I can glimpse some rumored ephemeral ID non-verification reference number.
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
Got done clicking “Save & Continue” a zillion times. C’mon reference number. C’mon reference– NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! pic.twitter.com/CUeZ1zX3Vn
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
Someone notes the obvious time and care that have gone into fixing the site:
@markjaquith @verumserum “Theres” no apostrophe in the error message
— James Schmidt (@JE_Schmitty) December 3, 2013
But there are bigger problems:
As suspected, the reference number on “the same screen as our phone number” was a fool’s errand. It’s not here. pic.twitter.com/7qU9K1h9Xy
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
Also, “maximum attempts for verifying your identity online”, yet it’s prompting me to… verify my identity online. pic.twitter.com/WNksjwUM3K
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
Mark gets creative:
http://t.co/HR9enYw2S3 accepts .xml documents for proof of identity. I whipped a little something up. pic.twitter.com/msG6tXd6Ki
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
Entering live chat to see if they have some magic way of finding my ID-non-verification reference number.
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
Live Chat: “that would mean that you would need to fill out a new application if you do not have that reference ID number.”
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
So apparently this reference ID is only shown once, at the end of your application. If you miss it, you have to completely start over.
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
Admitting http://t.co/HR9enYw2S3 defeat for the night. And here was my November attempt, if you missed it. http://t.co/nkVUP3Pnut
— Mark Jaquith (@markjaquith) December 3, 2013
Thank goodness healthcare.gov is fixed now.
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