A Disquieting Start

Today, following a half-month congressional stalemate during which Republicans demanded amendments to or an outright repeal of the Affordable Care Act, perhaps the greatest challenge to that law comes not from a Senate filibuster or an impending debt ceiling crisis, but from its own website. Users have reported numerous glitches—associated primarily with registering accounts—after using the much-touted website, which, when functioning properly, would allow consumers to compare and purchase healthcare plans in a virtual marketplace during the enrollment period. Compounding the confusion caused by the glitches, the Obama administration has remained largely silent on the specifics of the malfunction amid congressional probes into the flaws of the nearly $394 million dollar website. This silence is unacceptable and marks a worrying lack of accountability on the part of the administration.

Barring an uncomforting reassurance from President Obama that “no one is madder” than he is about the website’s glitches, the administration—and most prominently Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius—has not only been less-than-forthcoming but has also avoided calls from Republicans to testify before a congressional committee. Instead, officials like Sebelius have defended the website from the sidelines, reaffirming the merits of the healthcare legislation and dismissing the complaints leveled against the ACA website as a worrying but fixable kink in the legislation’s implementation. In doing so, the administration has failed to address a single concern expressed by the ACA’s detractors that the website’s failed launch underlies more serious problems with the healthcare legislation.

This is not to say that we fear that a malfunctioning website will be the bane of comprehensive healthcare reform; nor do we believe that these issues portend disaster for the ACA in the coming months. But it is nevertheless frustrating that after the administration’s continued rhetoric asserting its commitment to the ACA in the face of a congressional Republican challenge, they have allowed website glitches to cast doubt on the policy merits of the legislation. What began as a lamentable technical error has demonstrated a lamentable accountability gap between the Obama administration and the American public.

Although it blundered in failing to address the problem of the website’s glitches head-on, the Obama administration has an opportunity to bridge the accountability gap moving forward. First, the administration must present to the public a plan to fix the website’s glitches (beyond its fragile promise to bring in the “best and brightest”). It must comply with those in Congress who have sought closely-guarded information about the website. And it must, most importantly, ensure that the “online marketplace” delivers on its promise to get people the coverage that they need, whether this means extending the enrollment period or devoting more resources to getting consumers insured by mail and by phone.

On March 31, 2014—the day the enrollment period for 2014 closes—the website glitches will hopefully be a distant memory of an unnecessarily frustrating first month of the online exchange. Hopefully, The Affordable Care Act, together with its vaunted online marketplace, will have succeeded in insuring many Americans. But in the meantime, the Obama administration must address these glaring errors and remain accountable to the American public.