What do Republicans and the female body have in common?

They both have a way of shutting that whole thing down.

So you've probably heard that the government fell into a hole that our good friends across the aisle were busy digging for the last ... extended period of time.

I just want to let you know, since it's officially October 1st ...




The ACA is not affected.  You can go to healthcare.gov and sign up or compare plans.  It's probably busy, and wait times will be long if you call up their hotline, but in a few days it should (should?) taper off a bit.

The fastest and easiest way to apply for coverage is online.  You can also call up and have someone apply for you (bear with them, since the applications just went live and are new to everyone), but you can't pay over the phone.  You can only pay online or by contacting the insurance company directly.  Pay by December 15th to get coverage starting January 1st.

There is a paper application as well, but this is the slowest way to apply and you may make a mistake that will affect your eligibility.  The online tool will catch your mistakes (in theory).

I have yet to play with it.  I'm trying to get on the site but it's too busy.  Ha ha.  :/

Also, I got my health insurance card today.  I don't pay anything for my insurance, so I don't need this site anyway.  I signed up before I got a job and now I just want to look around and do a Nelson Muntz kind of thing to all those people who said premiums would be $600 or something.

I should also note that as of right now (1pm) the website totally doesn't work.  Please be patient while they iron out the kinks.  :/