It’s certainly good news that a former Microsoft executive will assume leadership of the ongoing repairs to healthcare.gov. The website’s functionality has already improved significantly and an experienced tech manager is sure to push further enhancements. But I’m still frustrated that the White House didn’t hire someone in this capacity three years ago, thus avoiding a huge self-inflicted clusterfuck. As Ezra Klein observes, somebody really needs to be fired at some point to demonstrate that this administration holds people accountable. It can wait until the open enrollment period ends in March, but Obama can’t afford to stay his hand indefinitely. The public may have an unfairly dim view of government employees, but surely a few people at CMS have earned their contempt.
