OK, the title is a bit misleading; the poll itself is over at the actual ACASignups.net website so that I can capture the results from both dKos as well as there in a single location.
Having said that, the 1-year anniversary of ACASignups.net is quickly approaching. The actual ACA exchanges officially launched on October 1st, 2013, of course, but we all know what a mess that was. My inspiration for the project came on October 11th, when I posted the following in a diary here at dKos:
Seriously, though, HHS should really start releasing the official (accurate) numbers of actual signups for all 50 states (or at the very least, the 36 states that they're responsible for) on a daily--or at least, weekly--basis. I don't care if it's a pitifully small number. 100,000? 10,000? 100? 10? Even if it's in single digits, release the damned numbers. Be upfront about it. Everyone knows by now how f*** up the website is, so be honest and just give out the accurate numbers as they come in.
I actually launched the website itself 2 days later (originally called "ObamacareSignups.net"...I changed the name because it was less wordy, not because I think "Obamacare" has a negative connotation):
OK, given that the HHS Dept. is not releasing any actual, official ACA/Obamacare signup numbers until a month has passed, I've decided to launch a simple website devoted to tracking the numbers as they're reported by the states running their own exchanges, as well as otherreputable sources.
Here's the place to go; I'll be compiling the numbers weekly as they come in, to the best of my ability: ObamacareSignups.net
It's obviously very crude right now, just a simple spreadsheet with a handful of numbers and a few source links (which don't even link yet). The blue states are the ones that are running their own exchanges; the rest are all run by the Federal site (Healthcare.gov), although it looks like 2 states (Idaho and New Mexico) will be moving to their own next year, and Utah has it's own site for business signups only. Interestingly, it turns out that the territories (American Samoa, Puerto Rico, etc.) aren't covered by the ACA at all.
So, October 13th it is. Whaddya figure I should do to mark the moment?
Please vote over at ACASignups.net (but feel free to post comments here at dKos as well).
And once again, to Markos/the dKos Management specifically, and to the dKos Community in general: THANK YOU for everything you've done to support the ACA Signups project throughout Year One, and as I promised back on April 30th:
barring any major life change of my own which prevents me from doing so (personal/career/medical crisis, etc.), I'm officially committing to keeping things going through the 2nd enrollment period, which runs from November 15, 2014 through February 15, 2015.