In what may be a sign of things to come, Senator Max Baucus delivered a stern warning to Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius for not doing enough to educate people about what the Affordable Care Act means for them. He has a legitimate point; the feds need to step up their public relations efforts soon if they hope to get people enrolled in health coverage beginning in the fall. But Baucus should be more concerned about the implementation of the federal exchange that will be serving over thirty states. The success of health care reform hinges upon the work of anonymous programmers and web designers who must construct a website that is stable and functional on a massive scale from day one. Getting the word out is important, but it won’t matter much if the exchange website is overwhelmed or difficult to use.
The feds are certainly capable of pulling this off, but I wonder if elected officials really understand how much technical wizardry is necessary to make health care reform a reality. And I wonder how many other Democrats will start predicting failure as a means of political damage control.
