Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

content.time.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 259 posts

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

#41

Post by wooter »

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."

Hospitals don't let uninsured people die and insuring people doesn't magically save their lives.

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

#42

Post by ConceptJunkie »

qdog wrote: post #22
mikeash wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would explain a lot if so. Any developer you can get for that rate who has been working for 10 years likely does not have 10 years of experience, but 1 year of experience repeated 10 times.

40x99x50=~$200k/year. That doesn't seem unreasonable compensation, what am I missing?

From my experience as a contractor, I'm betting the actual employee sees less than half of that. Perhaps a lot less.

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

#43

Post by mgkimsal »

I have a hard time believing that no one anywhere on the original teams understood that caching database calls was good/standard practice. I think even basic examples like that point out the lack of management problem. I can easily envision someone on the team bringing up basic data caching and getting overruled by other people on the team for trivial/stupid/political reasons. With no proper or clear management in place, there's no one to take this stuff to.

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

#44

Post by mikeash »

qdog wrote: post #22
mikeash wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would explain a lot if so. Any developer you can get for that rate who has been working for 10 years likely does not have 10 years of experience, but 1 year of experience repeated 10 times.

40x99x50=~$200k/year. That doesn't seem unreasonable compensation, what am I missing?

You can't compare contracting rates with regular salaries. There are a lot of costs involved for equipment, facilities, taxes, and just plain uncertainty (a contractor is often not working 50 weeks per year, not even close, because they have to find a new project frequently). Rule of thumb is to consider a contracting rate as equivalent to a regular job that pays half as much.

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

#45

Post by rjzzleep »

think about it this way. you have a bunch of technically unsavvy people, because they have been working in government contracts forever. now you come along, and say hey i could build this for you for much less money, and much better.

how in the heavens would he know that you can deliver? you'll choose the one you'll know at least. and since he has documents to back him up(mcse, mcsa, he might have worked for microsoft for a while). he's the obvious choice.

i worked for the government in healthcare for a while. these are not intentionally malicious people. hell, they even want to make it better, but it's a combination of regulation(bidding system that favors friends), lack of knowledge, and a little bit of ignorance.

but if you want more details feel free to ask. it was kind of fun to see a corruption case close up.

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

#46

Post by brandonb »

wooter wrote: post #41
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." Hospitals don't let uninsured people die and insuring people doesn't magically save their lives.

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-...

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

#47

Post by kevincrane »

wooter wrote: post #41
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." Hospitals don't let uninsured people die and insuring people doesn't magically save their lives.

But if you know you can't afford it, maybe you'd avoid going to the hospital when you really should.

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

#48

Post by seivan »

pdeuchler wrote: post #21

>> "It is also a story of an Obama Administration obsessed with health care reform policy but above the nitty-gritty of implementing it. No one in the White House meetings leading up to the launch had any idea whether the technology worked." I used to be this guy. The guy with the lofty ideas, but who thought the implementation was "beneath me". The guy who would sit around, waxing poetic about various features, user…

Those exist. They are called UX-"Experts", Interaction "designers" and etc.

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

#49

Post by jbooth »

wooter wrote: post #41
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." Hospitals don't let uninsured people die and insuring people doesn't magically save their lives.

Hospitals don't turn away uninsured at the ER.

However, due to lack of regular care, by the time you show up at the ER it might be too late.

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

#50

Post by laz »

aristus wrote: post #29
dannyr wrote: post #23

I heard that several people from YC startups and Google are helping out. This is one of the reasons why we're seeing a lot of improvements to the Federal Exchange site.

A friend of mine, from Facebook's networking team, also spent a month there. He came back with a thousand-yard stare.

The environment takes a toll on everyone, some more than others. The things I've seen ... you cannot un-see ;)
Post reply on HN