Showing posts with label microsoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label microsoft. Show all posts

Friday, February 7, 2014

The Sad State of HHS and CMS



Many ask, "Has HHS and CMS bitten off more than it could chew?"

The Failed Whale

Perhaps health.gov should have used the 'Fail Whale' icon for it's failed website. Those of you who were on twitter when it first began would see the 'fail whale' when twitter was overloaded. We don't see this very much anymore.....HHS has inherited the 'Moby Dick" of the Affordable Care Act.  Has anyone seen Ishmael ?




Health Reform News 
U.S. lawmakers reach accord on paying doctors for Medicare
Los Angeles Times - February 7, 2014

Exchange Mum on Premium Payments
California Healthline - February 6, 2014

Aetna Expects to Lose Money on Health-Law Marketplaces
Wall Street Journal - February 7, 2014

Obamacare Thrives In San Francisco's Chinatown
Kaiser Health News and NPR - February 7, 2014
An interesting evaluation of an ethnic community health plan

Ex Microsoft Exec Brings Lists and Whiteboard to Overhaul Obama Website


How he wound up with this job...His road to this job was a long one. It began in July -- about 12 weeks before the launch of healthcare.gov -- when Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced a massive reorganization  (their loss, our gain). 

DelBene’s process is collaborative and open, his colleagues say -- which is important in his new role. “You can see him evolve his positions as he gets more data. It’s not like he’s established his positions and [listening] is just a formality -- just Kabuki ritual theatre,” says U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park.







Todd Park, the U.S. chief technology officer, praises DelBene for listening and being open to new ideas (Photo by Karl Eisenhower/KHN).


After finishing up his part of the presentation, he felt a “tingle” at the back of his throat, as though he was going to start coughing. He didn’t want to disturb anyone, so he headed for the door to the hallway -- or so he thought. “I started opening the door to the closet!” he recalls, and there was laughter all around. 
“Oh! The new guy!” the president said.


The Health Benefit Exchange is a product of how government works. DelBene would never have released a product from Microsoft without assurances it did not have many "bugs.  Perhaps part of our government should be 'privatized' and failures should be penalized........just as it is in the real world. 

How long will voters and taxpayers tolerate incompetence while paying the bill ?