Case Study 2:

Deconstructing a Major Fiasco: OBAMACare and the HealthCare.gov Marketplace To Support The Affordable Care Act

[NOTE: The text for this case study was assembled from multiple sources and for the most part, quoted as is.]

This case study concerns the fiasco that faced the opening of the federal-level website, “Healthcare.gov” designed to implement the Affordable Care Act in the U.S.

+ The Federal Law Behind “Healthcare.gov”

“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA),[1] commonly called the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or “Obamacare”,[2][3] is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act,[4] it represents the most significant regulatory overhaul of the country’s healthcare system since the passage of Medicare andMedicaid in 1965.[5]

The ACA aims to increase the quality and affordability of health insurance, lower the uninsured rate by expanding public and private insurance coverage, and reduce the costs of healthcare for individuals and the government. It provides a number of mechanisms—including mandates, subsidies, and insurance exchanges—to increase coverage and affordability.[6][7] The law also requires insurance companies to cover all applicants within new minimum standards and offer the same rates regardless of pre-existing conditions or sex.[8][9] Additional reforms aim to reduce costs and improve healthcare outcomes by shifting the system towards quality over quantity through increased competition, regulation, and incentives to streamline the delivery of healthcare. TheCongressional Budget Office projected that the ACA will lower both future deficits[10] and Medicare spending.[11]”

+ Multi-Sourcing Arrangement: the Different Firms Involved in Creating “Healthcare.gov”

Individuals in the U.S. could sign up for healthcare insurance using either the federal level marketplace called…