The Endless Loop

Sometimes, I can get in. Sometimes, not. Sometimes, healthcare.gov is down for maintenance.

But, when I get in, there is a certain point I can get to. I get to the place that looks like that last step. I click Save and Continue to ID Proofing, then Save and Continue on a dialog box, and then BAM! kicked back to my profile after the red error box temporarily shows, perhaps, "Unexpected Error".

The thing is, it says:

Almost finished....
We've received your application as of 10/9/2013
We will provide eligibility results after establishing identity

So, is my application in or not? When I go back to my landing page, it says it is in progress. When I click on the application it says:

Your application is incomplete
You haven't finished your application for health coverage. You must complete and submit your application to find out if you're eligible for coverage and to enroll into a plan.

So, did they get my application? Or not? I have been through this loop about 10 times. Each cycle takes about 20 minutes because there are so many screens and the screens are so slow.

So I called 1-800-318-2596 to ask. I called them once yesterday and twice today. Each time, my frustration level and expectation was a little different. So I'll explain each one.

/rant on
By the way, I have tried the live chat option a number of times. The online chat feature of healthcare.gov is excellent for anyone who doesn't already know that you should try to access the site on off peak hours or wait a few days. For anyone with a real question, it is completely useless. Why they have humans, I don't know. All that needs to be done is sending the boilerplate text to all users who attempt to use it.
/rant off

Yesterday, I saw on CNN (why does my Dad watch that network?) that they can sign you up over the phone. Excellent. All I want is to get past that verify ID thing so I can see my plans. I called and got a woman who said she'd connect me to Experian. The line got cut off while I was on hold. F*** it.

This morning, I decided to try again after another round of getting to end and getting errored out when I tried to verify my ID. She said we could make a new application but she couldn't get my data, so I decided to try again later.

Later I called and got, for the first time, a woman who was willing to tell me what other people are experiencing. That is part what I want to know. Are other people getting to my point and crashing? Is anyone getting past that? Is nobody getting past that? If nobody is, I'd like to know to stop wasting my time.

She told me that the application appears to have been submitted but now it has to be examined and I should wait for an email. But she also thought that I should have gotten an email from them already. I explained that I got to the point where it said my application had been submitted but that I always got an error on the next button click. In the end, she thinks that the application is, in fact, submitted.

Finally, I decided to ask the live chat. After getting the boilerplate bullshit, I asked the guy if I would have gotten an email if my application was actually successfully submitted. It was a yes/no question, but he said "You are correct, sir" which I took to mean that I would have gotten an email. When I asked if there was a way I could delete my application and start over, I got the boilerplate BS about trying during off peak hours or waiting and apologizing for my inconvenience while they work to improve the system.