Whether you are a supporter of the Affordable Care Act or not, I believe it’s safe to say that the first few months of the President’s signature law have gone less than stellar. The word “glitch” has become part of daily lexicon. I can imagine kids across the country telling their parents that there were glitches in completing homework assignments or, from a historical perspective, wondering if Captain Edward John Smith had radioed in that the Titanic had encountered a few glitches in its trip across the Atlantic.
Now, it is likely that by the time you read this column all of the website issues that have plagued the rollout of Obamacare will be solved, or maybe not. To me, this is not the main issue. I believe the trouble in this rollout highlights two distinctly different issues. The first, and most visible, is whether the Affordable Care Act is good public policy. Mind you, this does not question if the law was needed or not, it means was the bill as written and implemented good policy and does it make sense. The second, and I believe ultimately as or more important, is can the federal government implement a policy as far-ranging as the Affordable Care Act?