Ahh, yes, bureaucracy

[datsunaholic]

Gotta love when bureaucracy meets computer security.

So, I had to call my State's government health care system because my password once again got locked. Most systems give you 5 tries to get the password right, this one is 3 but they don't tell you that until you've locked yourself out and it doesn't reset automatically. You have to call to have the account unfrozen. I've had to do this twice because I keep forgetting that password because I use it ONCE a year to reapply for health coverage.

So, they've implemented pretty strict password rules- it has to be 8 characters long (more than most places which is usually 4-7 minimum), it has to have 3 of the 4 types of characters (Upper case letters, lowercase letters, numerals, special characters. It also has to be changed every 3 months. No passwords can be reused. Not particularly weird, except of course the changing the password every 3 months part- for a website most folks go to ONE TIME a year. Because the State mandates you go through the exchange to pick your provider (or declare you have one via your employer).

So, I've locked my account. I have to call for 2 reasons- one, because I locked my account (again) but secondly, because last time I called them was to change my address. Which they utterly failed to get right. See. my old address had been my PO Box on Line 1 and the Street Address on Line 2. It worked for me because usually the mail went to the PO box but it fit the bill of being the required "Street" address because they didn't allow PO boxes as your primary address.

But I moved. Since the new place has a semi-secure locking mailbox, I didn't bother getting a new PO box. So I tried to change the address.

They changed it, all right. Got the physical address right, but now they have a new "mailing address" field, which they dutifully put the PO Box in. The PO box that I closed a month ago.

So, back on the nice long phone queue.

Tell the phone associate that I'd managed to lock my account and it needed to be reset. OK, done- but now she gives me the whole spiel about password security, using no dictionary words, but you should be mixing case, using special characters. Oh, but to make it easier to remember, put the numbers in the front and the special characters at the end (yes, lets advertise the recommended password format to everyone). Oh, and you should write it down (number 1 rule of passwords is don't write down or store them ANYWHERE except your head). So they've implemented all these layers of password security- 8 characters, multiple types needed, reset every 3 months, no repeating passwords) then tell you to write the damn thing down. Nice, you just eliminated all the layers at once.

So, I get my account reset, she asks which address is wrong (noting it's the mailing address). We go through, on the phone, every field. Phone number was wrong too. She says it's all changed, good to go.

So I hang up. Log in to my account (it works, yay). Check my personal settings.

Yup, it's all wrong. Still. But at least I can change it.

[oldr_n_wsr]

You're government at "work".

[MajGenl.Meade]

No, you are not - are you, datsunaholic?

It's not just government. My last 1.5 years of dealing with my insurance/health provider (mind you, ACA made it tougher) have been simply ridiculous.

They did finally acknowledge yesterday Dec 30 that indeed, I am covered under their Medicare Enhanced HMO effective Dec 01 for which yes, I had paid on November 7. Their billing took one day but admitting I was covered took 53 days.

And my wife's six month saga with errors on her Macy's account finally drove her to terminate it yesterday - they kept creating new cards with new numbers and then adding charges to accounts they'd discontinued. I blame Bill Gates and that Steve Jobs guy - too much impact on the entire universe - more than that dude with the bone in 2001