The Affordable Care Act Rollout Highlights IT Problems
To say information technology (IT) is taking a beating as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) rollout is an understatement. Not only has it been a disaster for those seeking insurance under it, but it also has highlighted the fact that IT, while cool, is far from perfect.
I want to take a look at several articles looking into this debacle that has even made the President apologize for statements he made about the ACA before it was implemented—something rare in politics and for presidents.
The first few days after the rollout it was obvious something had gone wrong with the ACA’s website. The Washington Post offers us five thoughts on the ACA rollout. The paper first clears the air by saying the site is not just a glitch and simply troubled; it’s a straight-up failure.
The next issue the Post addresses is how problematic it is for the data being transferred from the website to insurance companies. In reference to Watergate, the paper asks “Why didn’t the White House know about the issues?”
So, did we see this coming? Someone had to know that this was not going to be a smooth deployment of a massive website that plays an important role for the uninsured as well as the President himself.
Well, it appears that thirteen days before the rollout someone did warn us. The Huffington Post wrote that the rollout of the ACA will have snags. Here is the beginning of the article: "There will be glitches when the major provisions of the Affordable Care Act are implemented starting Oct. 1. Huge glitches. Many glitches. Bet on it."
We know the rollout was unacceptable, and apparently so does Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader of the US House of Representative, as this NPR interview shows. In many ways Pelosi is the face of the ACA, and who can forget her stating "But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." As this USA Today article points out, the ACA is becoming a liability to some Democrats who are not very pleased as this impacts their re-election bids.
The question becomes: Could this have been avoided or is it simply the nature of information technology that big projects have problems?
I’d like to hear what you think in the comments below.
