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Obama's Trauma Team: Inside the Nightmare Launch of HealthCare.Gov

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Re: Obama's Trauma Team: Inside the Nightmare Launch of HealthCare.Gov

#221

Post by josephlord »

smacktoward wrote: post #76
quickpost wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Awesome rules. Posting on my wall right now.

Rule 3 could be dangerous, though. It makes sense when you're in crisis mode, but when you're not focusing exclusively on things that could jump up and bite you tomorrow can lead to strategic tunnel vision -- missing opportunities for big wins because you were too busy chasing small ones. Not really an issue for them since healthcare.gov sort of became the dictionary definition of "crisis mode," but worth keeping in…

Yes rule 3 should be a bit looser when not in crisis mode.

It can be adapted to what can we actually decide now rather than to discuss possible future paths (the more speculative discursive stuff can happen in other meetings).

Re: Obama's Trauma Team: Inside the Nightmare Launch of HealthCare.Gov

#222

Post by vassvdm »

brandonb wrote: post #38

I've been working on healthcare.gov for the last few months alongside a bunch of other Google, Facebook, and Y Combinator alums. I'll always remember what Mikey told us in December, after the site was back up, could handle a non-trivial amount of traffic, and people who wanted health insurance could finally get it: "1 in 1000 uninsured people die each year. It's not an exaggeration to say that due to the work we're d…

Thanks for the insights. Apparently Accenture has been contracted to help out (or take over) the HealthCare.gov website:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230381970...

I'm wondering - how is this perceived within the current team? Are you relieved that you will be getting reinforcements, worried that another big contractor could contribute to the complexity, or even disturbed that they could get the credit for fixing the site after all the hard work you put in?

I used to work at Accenture, so I'm curious as to how this will turn out.

Re: Obama's Trauma Team: Inside the Nightmare Launch of HealthCare.Gov

#224

Post by brandonb »

brandonb wrote: post #38

I've been working on healthcare.gov for the last few months alongside a bunch of other Google, Facebook, and Y Combinator alums. I'll always remember what Mikey told us in December, after the site was back up, could handle a non-trivial amount of traffic, and people who wanted health insurance could finally get it: "1 in 1000 uninsured people die each year. It's not an exaggeration to say that due to the work we're d…

Update -- wow, a lot of you out there want to help with healthcare.gov, or the government more generally! That's awesome.

I'm trying to reply to each person, but it may take a couple of days. :)

If, for whatever reason, you haven't heard back from me by Monday, please email again!

(The discussion on the 1 in 1000 fact has also been interesting, and I've personally learned a few new facts about the original study and what is controlled for. I'd rather have rigorous analysis of impact for everything, including and especially "good causes," than to give us a free pass.)

Re: Obama's Trauma Team: Inside the Nightmare Launch of HealthCare.Gov

#226

Post by chocosoes »

this may sound stupid but i'm just wondering why the article is dated in the future (Mar 10, 2014)? we're on even on March 3 yet, and yet its there http://search.time.com/results.html?N=46&Ns=p_date_range|1

I'm not a regular time magazine reader, am I missing something here?

Re: Obama's Trauma Team: Inside the Nightmare Launch of HealthCare.Gov

#227

Post by gadders »

brandonb wrote: post #38

I've been working on healthcare.gov for the last few months alongside a bunch of other Google, Facebook, and Y Combinator alums. I'll always remember what Mikey told us in December, after the site was back up, could handle a non-trivial amount of traffic, and people who wanted health insurance could finally get it: "1 in 1000 uninsured people die each year. It's not an exaggeration to say that due to the work we're d…

>"1 in 1000 uninsured people die each year. It's not an exaggeration to say that due to the work we're doing here, 5,000-10,000 people will live to see the end of 2014. You should be proud of what you've done, but we should also all be grateful to have this opportunity."

Using that logic, how many have died due to the botched rollout of the website?

Re: Obama's Trauma Team: Inside the Nightmare Launch of HealthCare.Gov

#228

Post by mephi5t0 »

Question: did anyone got fired in Washington for blowing through 300 mln and delivering jack shit? Why if you get hired in a company and preform poorly or just because of the budget cuts - you get laid off and end of story. If they have budget problem in DC and politicians doesn't do what they were supposed to, they get to keep a job and tell more lies...

Re: Obama's Trauma Team: Inside the Nightmare Launch of HealthCare.Gov

#229

Post by JPKab »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #79
brandonb wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An estimated 26,000 people die each year due to lack of insurance coverage. That's part of the reason the Affordable Care Act was passed. For more information, see this Reuters article from 2012: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/20/us-usa-healthcare-...

Too bad the people who actually need it, are not signing up. Not to mention the people who HAD coverage are now getting cut off of their insurance and forced into the exchanges. A complete failure anyway you look at it. http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2014/01/18/coverag... "Instead of expanding coverage to those without it, Obamacare is replacing the pre-existing market for private insurance. Surveys from i…

My mother in law has worked for the past 15 years at jobs which employ her for 39.5 hours a week and don't give her health insurance. She suffers arthritis in her hands and knees. She signed up and received health insurance for the first time in 15 years last week. She is now receiving the medical care she needs. Had she not, she would have had to apply for disability benefits. Now, she gets to keep working.

You don't know what you are talking about. My mother-in-law makes shit money, and yet she has a plan that is extremely affordable for her.

Your a partisan hack, and your facts are regurgitated from professional partisan hacks. Your absurd "handing a 1/3 of our economy over to the Federal Govt" comment points out your biased sources of knowledge. How is a website which matches consumers with private insurance companies equate to "handing over" to the Federal Government? What planet do you live on? Alabama?

Re: Obama's Trauma Team: Inside the Nightmare Launch of HealthCare.Gov

#230

Post by streptomycin »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #191
Fomite wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It did not control for many factors that may be relevant (e.g. smoking). From the abstract: "After additional adjustment for race/ethnicity, income, education, self- and physician-rated health status, body mass index, leisure exercise, smoking, and regular alcohol use" > On the authors of the correlation study, who should never have studied this question without looking at extensive control variables or without mor…

A randomized controlled trial where we deprive people of health insurance? Yes. Before instituting Obamacare/Romneycare/$POLICY, we should have run a pilot program based on random assignment with clear predefined success metrics. But that's politically dangerous - after all, what if the experiment shows that $POLICY doesn't work? We did that, by accident, in Oregon (google Oregon Health Experiment). There were no sta…

I mostly agree with you, but you seem to be ignoring this point: Medicaid decreased the probability of having an unpaid medical bill sent to a collection agency by 25 percent – which also benefits health care providers since the vast majority of such debts are never paid.

A lot of uninsured people can get medical care in emergency rooms which are not allowed to turn them away, but then the cost adds one more huge burden on top of an already-difficult struggle to get out of poverty.

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