With the end of the government shutdown, Americans are now focusing on the problems with the Obamacare website.
“I think the damage to the country over the past three weeks far supersedes a website not working,” host Mika Brzezinski said on Friday’s Morning Joe.
On the opening day of the Affordable Care Act’s roll out, thousands of Americans looking to sign up for health care online were met with website malfunctions and tech glitches. Deciding whether healthcare.gov is fixable is “up for debate,” though, Kelly Kennedy, health policy reporter for USA Today, said on the show. Some experts believe it needs to be overhauled, while others think fixable glitches are causing users to experience widespread problems.
In addition, it might require constant fixes and updates in the coming months, Kennedy said. The government has already paid $292 million in contractor payments for a website built with technology that is 10 years old.
About 15 million Americans have visited the website since it launched on Oct. 1. But many reporters and users have given it negative reviews.
The website’s roll out is a problem, but the actual health care is not, said Melody Barnes, director of the Obama administration’s Domestic Policy Council.
“We’re sitting on top of that foundation of success,” she said. “What we have to do now is fix those problems.”
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Michele Richinick