You know, Congress could have just tried to address opening up competition across state lines for health care insurance, and maybe some tax credits for poorer Americans to go buy the coverage they wanted. They could have left those already insured alone, but no, Congress, as usual, had to  try to reinvent the wheel, with predictable results

Via CNBC:

It’s a batting average that won’t land the federal marketplace for Obamacare into the Healthcare Hall of Fame.

As few as 1 in 100 applications on the federal exchange contains enough information to enroll the applicant in a plan, several insurance industry sources told CNBC on Friday. Some of the problems involve how the exchange’s software collects and verifies an applicant’s data.

“It is extraordinary that these systems weren’t ready,” said Sumit Nijhawan, CEO of Infogix, which handles data integrity issues for major insurers including WellPoint and Cigna, as well as multiple Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates.

Experts said that if Healthcare.gov’s success rate doesn’t improve within the next month or so, federal officials could face a situation in January in which relatively large numbers of people believe they have coverage starting that month, but whose enrollment applications are have not been processed.

“It could be public relations nightmare,” said Nijhawan. Insurers have told his company that just “1 in 100″ enrollment applicants being sent from the federal marketplace have provided sufficient, verified information.

Geniuses!