Obamacare website implements new, misleading pricing feature

(http://www.cbsnews.com) CBS News recently unveiled yet another problem with Healthcare.gov: A new online feature stemming from the Obama administration's efforts to improve the website can dramatically underestimate insurance costs.

The administration's latest attempt to deceive the American public into believing that Obamacare's implementation is going smoothly lumps potential customers into two age categories: 49 or under and 50 or older. The prices it shows those in the 49 or under group are based on what a 27-year-old would pay, while those in the 50 or older category see prices for 50-year-olds. This means that a lot of people, especially those who are not 27 or 49 years old, are getting wrong, misleading price estimates. In some cases, people could have to pay twice what the website claims for them.

Jonathon Wu, an industry analyst, says that this is "incredibly misleading for people that are trying to get a sense of what they're paying."

CBS News analyzed the case of a 48-year-old woman from Charlotte, N.C.: According to HealthCare.gov, she would pay $231 a month, but the actual plan on Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina's website costs $360, more than 50 percent higher. The difference: Blue Cross and Blue Shield requests your birthday before providing more accurate estimates.

The difference between estimates and actual costs are even more shocking for older Americans. A 62-year-old, also from Charlotte, looking for the same basic plan would see on Healthcare.gov a price estimate of $394, while the actual price is $634.