The roll out of the Affordable Care Act online exchanges have been plagued with glitches that have prevented millions of people from being able to sign up for healthcare coverage that the law mandates. This is an inexcusable mistake by the federal government, and someone must be held accountable for these egregious errors. That being said, these technical issues are not cause to lose faith in the broader policy. Despite the minor setbacks that the technical problems have caused, the Affordable Care Act was the right thing to do and will help American society in the long run.
While the online exchanges were a key part of the policy, there are other major pieces that have already been put in place. Because of “Obamacare,” young adults are allowed to stay on their parents’ health insurance plan until the age of 26. Because of the Affordable Care Act, people with pre-existing conditions, those who need healthcare the most, will not be turned away because of their high cost to insurance companies. The exchanges were a major piece of the affordable care act but not the keystone. Any notions that these glitches will derail the policy are misguided. The online exchanges are meant to be a forum to help millions shop for insurance and are a key part of the individual mandate. The glitches have caused a six-week delay in the date in which the individual mandate goes into effect. Over 8 million unique viewers visited the healthcare.gov in the first four days of its existence. Over the first two days only 248 people were able to successfully enroll nationwide. This indicates that interest in the program was high but ability to enroll was low. These glitches were frustrating and have likely led many to put off buying health insurance.
President Obama claims he did not know about the problems with the website until after the Oct. 1, 2013 launch. If this is true, someone ought to be fired. I knew about the glitches before the website was launched. Slate reported on Sept. 23 there were major glitches and that they “could be an unusually severe issue.” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told Congress that she had told Obama the site was “ready to go” for its launch. This begs the question, did she even know about the tech issues within her own department? Some person or group of people made a major mistake, and the president and secretary should have been informed prior to the “Obamacare” launch.
As of late, the administration has been handling the issues well. Google and other tech company engineers have been recruited to help resolve these issues. On Oct. 31, the site was shut down for maintenance, and the administration assures citizens it will be up and running within the month. They should have realized these problems existed earlier and devoted as many resources as possible to fixing it. Despite the technical problems, the Affordable Care Act has had, and will continue to have, a positive effect on America. Achieving universal healthcare should remain a goal of this nation. We cannot let minor technical issues discourage us. That being said, it is also true this was a major debacle and someone ought to be held accountable for it.
Do you think “Obamacare “was the right choice for American healthcare? Do you think the technological issues are deal breakers? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
