(The Verge) – On March 23, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Obama. Among other things, the law is supposed to make it easier for a majority of Americans to obtain healthcare coverage at a more affordable price. As per its requirements, every state is to create a new health insurance exchange where people can compare, contrast, and ultimately buy their insurance plans. This “market” is open to all Americans. Leaders of this healthcare reform, headed by the President, enthusiastically declared the launch of the website HealthCare.gov, where people are supposed to sign-up for their health insurance by March 31, 2014.
Surveys and research conducted prior to the website launch showed that hundreds of thousands of Americans would immediately sign up for their insurance plans once the launch was complete. This prediction proved to be quite accurate as people across the nation tried to sign up for their government funded insurances in early October. However, what the polls did not reveal was the shocking effect that such a rise in the demand of health insurance would have upon the new system itself.
Due to thousands of people attempting to login simultaneously during the launch at midnight on Oct. 1, the website scandalously crashed. On Monday, the White House released a statement apologizing to the American public and claiming that those who are responsible for inappropriately managing the website will be punished. After each unsuccessful login attempt, the website displays messages such as “The system is unavailable” and “The system is down at the moment. We’re currently performing scheduled maintenance. Please try again later.” As of Oct. 21, 2013, the system was supposed to be inoperative for forty two hours. News reporters who attempted to call the help line number found out that the representatives working at the HealthCare Management Offices had a scripted dialogue that they were supposed to read to every consumer who called. The dialogue essentially instructed the person who was calling to try and log in to the HealthCare website once again. Ironically enough, the majority of the people were calling to report that they could not log in to the enrollment website in the first place.
The White House has received criticism from both ends of the political spectrum due to this embarrassing incident. This $634 million health care reform is one of the most expensive government failures yet. Liberal-leaning figures such as Nancy Pelosi, The New York Times and Jon Stewart have all thoroughly criticized this debacle.
Likewise, conservatives such Sean Hannity have further underscored the flaws of the system by repeatedly calling the help line numbers. The answers they received were intentionally misleading and it was made clear that there is massive confusion unfurling within the core of the system at the moment.
Many analysts have suggested that this website failure may only be the beginning of a lengthy revelation of flaws within the new healthcare system. For example, according to this new system, eligibility for subsidies is to be determined via an individual’s income status. The eligibility requirements are to be determined by a software program on the website. Considering the crash of the website itself, it’s possible for there to be imperfections within this “income verification” software. If this software does not work properly, then there is a very high possibility for massive tax payer fraud.
Hopefully, the website will be fixed before long and the government will finally clear out the “glitches” in the software before any more of the American citizens’ tax dollars are wasted. And as for the larger arguments that lie ahead, buckle down, we’re in for a doozy.
Log in, see for yourself!
Pictured as the feature photo is White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, who has briefed the press and the nation, countless times now, on the healthcare issue.
