While the essence of the affordable healthcare program is sound, the Healthcare.gov website unfortunately was not sufficiently tested before going public. This flub does not discredit the basic value of the program.
The opponents of the president are grabbing onto this minor flaw to make a political case against the heart of the matter which is affordable-healthcare-for-all-Americans-despite-their-circumstances. The healthcare delivery and payment system is not wrapped up in the website. Don’t be misled by the critics who are picking at the wrapper and ignoring the heart with its abundance of economic and societal advantages.
The website difficulty is a minor flaw. People are still getting help via phone, walk-in and by land mail. In the 17 states that have set up healthcare exchanges, they have their own websites which are working. Please watch the linked interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Maa87MA7dxI&feature=player_embedded with Kentucky’s Governor Beshear describing how they’ve had ~1,000 registrants a day, his goal being to cover 640,000 previously uninsured people in his state. Notice that his NC (R) critic Senator Renee Ellmers dwells on the failures of the website but refuses to discuss Governor Beshear’s stated successes with the program itself.
I don’t believe the damage is getting worse by the day as some think. I believe the noise is getting louder as the (R)’s take political advantage of this snag. New and more experienced experts are being brought into the repair process. Look up news about Jeffrey Zients.
Think back to the implementation of all new huge computerized systems. They always take a year or two to iron out the kinks. Medicare which everyone now loves was two to three years in its roll out.
Here is a good source of current news on the subject. http://www.reuters.com/subjects/healthcare Don’t just listen to the noise, dig a little and read up on some real information.
Take a deep breath. We’ll get through this. Share this with your friends.
Heather Rabinowitz is a resident of The Villages.