Former Apple CEO John Sculley says it would be great if the Obamacare rollout fiasco led to a realization that the private sector works better than government. But he isn't holding his breath.
"I think this huge belly-flop of the president's most important program is really a great lesson for all of us of just how broken government is," Sculley said Tuesday on Fox News Channel's
"Your World with Neil Cavuto."
The White House tried initially comparing what it termed "glitches" in the HealthCare.gov website to issues with Apple products that it quickly fixes. That explanation has been panned by mainstream media outlets and even
liberal supporters of the Affordable Care Act as it's become clear the
government knew about the problems even before the site was launched.
Government thinks about special interests, not about customers, Sculley told Cavuto. When he worked for Apple, the rule was to start with "clear thinking," then constantly simplify, he said.
"The government doesn't think that way," he said.
The Oct. 1 launch of the website was promised to be a one-stop shopping experience where people who buy their own health insurance could compare plans, much like travel websites. Instead, those who tried to log in were greeted with screens telling them to try back later.
On Monday, President Barack Obama
spoke about the issue from the White House Rose Garden, advising people to try a toll-free phone line. That, Sculley said, "is like going back to the middle of the 20th century."
Despite the administration's multiple comparisons to his old company, Sculley told Cavuto that Apple would have postponed the launch rather than release a clearly crippled product.
"This ought to be a Harvard Business School case history about how not to launch your most important product, your signature event," he said.
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