The glitches, the hearings and the endless jokes — they’re all part of the month that was in healthcare reform history.
If you missed any of it, Washington Post has a great list of 31 things we learned in HealthCare.gov’s first 31 days. Some things on the list were expected even before the Oct. 1 launch. But while we knew it would be messy, we didn’t think it would be this bad.
Some of the highlights from WaPo’s list:
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Surprising: Only six people enrolled in health insurance through the portal on its first day, according to notes from a meeting of the House Oversight Committee.
Not surprising: HealthCare.gov wasn’t ready to launch. Contractors and CMS officials both admitted the system wasn’t tested enough ahead of its launch.
Surprising: The technical problems with the site had less to do with heavy traffic and more to do with major design flaws. The site also reportedly posed a threat to online security even before it went live. An Arizona software tester discovered that hacking a HealthCare.gov account wasn’t actually that hard. The holes in security seem to be fixed, but officials have said that the site may not work for everyone until the end of November.
Not surprising: The Obama administration said that contractors messed up – and vice versa. The blame game unfolded in a series of Congressional hearings.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Surprising: The Wall Street Journal points out that it wasn’t until the administration charged Jeffrey Zients with overseeing the fix of the exchange that a single leader really owned the complex HealthCare.gov project. Different contractors were reporting to different people, and those people became increasingly disconnected as the project moved forward, WSJ reported.
Not surprising: State-run exchanges had some problems, too. Well, not really Kentucky. Or Washington. But Oregon and California did.
Surprising: The general public didn’t seem to be paying much attention. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey in October found that public opinion on the ACA held relatively steady in October compared to the past several months.
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