There is no doubt that the Obamacare website is an acknowledged failure in technology but it is also a failure in access, design, and information.
Remember the phony argument Democrats advanced with regard to ID cards for voting? They said requiring Americans to get an ID card was discriminatory in that many could not go through the process without hardship.
If it is unfair and discriminatory to require Americans to get a voter ID card, why is it not discriminatory and unfair for Americans to be required to sign up for Obamacare? It is easier for Americans to apply and receive a voter ID card than it is for them to apply for Obamacare.
The president when he was campaigning for Obamacare stated that he was concerned for the uninsured and wanted a process that was simple and accessible. It is everything but that.
The premise behind Obamacare was to provide base healthcare for the tens of millions of poor and uninsured. So what does the president do to facilitate the poor and uninsured in signing up — he creates a computer-based Internet site. The only problem is that the poor he intends to help do NOT have computers or access to the Internet.
According to the U.S. Census Department, "Household Internet varies across demographics such as race and ethnicity. In 2011, 76.2 percent of non-Hispanic White Households and 82.7 percent of Asian households reported Internet use at home, compared with 58.3 percent of Hispanic households and 56.9 percent of Black households."
Add to this the fact that only 56.7 percent of households with an annual income below $25,000 have a computer in the home and only 49.8 percent of households with that annual income have connections to the Internet in the home.
Access to smartphones has even lower percentages for minorities. And assuming the poor could access the Internet and get to the Obamacare website, it is impossible for them to navigate the option and materials without guidance and explanation. And assuming they could get through the process they do not have the income to pay for the coverage or pay the fine. Sounds like discrimination to me.
The Obamacare website is nothing but a price guide. It does NOT set forth the policy differences between polices which makes it impossible to shop between offerings based on facts. How can a citizen consumer make an informed decision when there is no information given to the consumer to make such decisions?
I am an attorney and had a difficult time navigating the Obamacare website and quickly identified its deficiencies and lack of critical information.
There is no way the average American or those without education could possibly successfully navigate the Obamacare website as it currently exists. I submit that most users have no clue what an HMO is or a POS. They have to know the differences to allow them to make the right decision on what is the best policy of healthcare coverage for them.
So not only is the Obamacare website a failure of technology, it is also a failure in navigation, information, access, and design.
There is no doubt that the website is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the failure of Obamacare. The website should have been the easiest part of Obamacare to implement. The real challenges come in the pricing and delivery of services.
The fact that the Obama administration refuses to release the metrics of sign-ups to date tells me they have not reached their goals. Obamacare is based on tens of millions of young people signing up to create the funds necessary to pay for those needing medical services now. If the young decide not to pay for insurance, opting to pay the piddling fine, then medical premiums skyrocket for everyone else.
Add to this the challenge of providing medical services for millions added to the rolls without the necessary numbers of doctors, nurses, hospitals, and labs to cover this instantaneous increase in population and you have a prescription for yet another “glitch” in the not too distant future.
It is clear that Obamacare was not ready for prime time and was forced upon the people at their expense. I overheard one Democratic strategist recently say, “The president is on this. Obama has stated he is bringing in the best and the brightest IT people from the private sector to fix it — money is no object.” Ergo, there is the problem with the problem.
The U.S. government reportedly spent more than $400 million on an inferior website and now money is no object to fix it? Money is never an object because it is not their money. Had Obama been the president of Apple – he would have been fired by now. This is not about “glitches” — this is about incompetence and failure.
If Democrats were smart they would have taken up the Republicans offer to delay the individual mandate to allow Obamacare to be unveiled when it was ready instead of shutting down the government.
Obamacare as it presently exists cannot succeed as it costs too much, cares too little, confuses all, and is technologically deficient.
Bradley A. Blakeman served as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-04. He is currently a professor of politics and public policy at Georgetown University and a frequent contributor to Fox News Opinion. Read more reports from Bradley Blakeman — Click Here Now.
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