By Mark E. Ruquet
Everyone has an opinion on this issue, so I feel I would be
remiss if I did not add my own two cents to the debate.
I feel the healthcare system in this country is broken. The inequity of our system that denies
healthcare to millions because they cannot afford the insurance premiums should
embarrass all of our elected representatives and business leaders.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more
popularly known as Obamacare, while far from perfect, is at least a step in the
right direction to provide coverage to a greater number of Americans. That
said, the computer glitches we have seen are appalling. It amounts to a waste
of time, money and erosion in confidence for buyers. If the government cannot
make the sight work properly, how can a buyer be certain they are getting the
right coverage at the right price?
No one should be too surprised that issues would arise during
the initial rollout, but to make the sight utterly unusable is either a sign of
incompetence or ignorance. Somebody dropped the ball big time.
That said, the cadre of opponents trying to gut the program
has not helped. This is not an excuse, but I can imagine a group of professionals
in the Department of Health and Human Services feeling so much pressure to get
the sign-up launched by Oct. 1 that they failed to understand the technical issues
that resulted in what amounts to a system meltdown.
The opponents have not helped matters. The Congressional
hearings are a charade of outrage by House Republicans. They cannot be happier.
However, no representative has expressed a workable alternative or spent much
time identifying problems with Obamacare and offering solutions—other than let’s
start over.
Of course, the Obama administration has no one to blame but itself.
Anyone hear of Beta testing? We do not need Congressional hearings to tell us
that the system did not go through adequate testing phase before rollout. If it
had, we would be moving onto the real issue: Does the program provide
affordable healthcare to those who need it?
In a recent column by Nicholas D. Kristof, he quoted Dr. J.
Scott Gibson saying, “Website problems are a nuisance. Life and death is when
you need care and can’t afford to get it.”
Access to Healthcare.gov will be fixed; but the need for adequate
coverage will remain until the millions without coverage or with inadequate
coverage have a decent insurance plan. Too many people die today because they
failed to see their doctor in time. A superpower should do better.
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