Executive Summary
During October 2013, different types of technical defects were observed in relation to the work of the HealthCare.gov website associated with the procedure of enacting the Affordable Care Act. These problems caused a range of difficulties in the exchange activities of many people who needed the information about insurance and concrete assistance in relation to their health care plan.
The website was designed to provide the online marketplace to resolve the problems associated with purchasing health insurance by many people in different states (Goldstein par. 1-3). However, the work of the website was inadequate not only because of the technical defects but also because of the inappropriate content and information provided for the population and insurance companies, thus, many persons remained to be frustrated because of the experienced problems with the online market.
The problem is in the fact that the Obama administration rejected reporting on the observed problems initially, stating that the inadequate work of the website was connected with the website’s popularity among the population.
The people’s reports on their interactions in relation to the website were not used appropriately to fix the problem as quickly as possible (Goldstein par. 5-7). Furthermore, the Obama administration did not provide any information about the website’s problems and approaches to overcome them.
As a result, many people and insurance companies experienced significant difficulties while using the website in order to resolve the questions associated with insurance. Finally, the Obama administration reacted to the situation and declared about the necessity to invite experts and specialists in order to cope with the technical defects observed in the work of the website (Goldstein par. 12-13). In spite of the fact the Obama administration realized some actions to overcome the problem, it is necessary to examine the other approaches to resolving the issue to respond to the associated ethical concerns and to provide the alternatives which can be used by the government in order to resolve the problematic situation.
Policy Alternatives
The first policy alternative which can be used in relation to resolving the issue is the improvement of approaches chosen by the Obama administration. Thus, the government representatives declared that hiring the additional computer experts, it is possible to rewrite computer code and improve the work of the website to satisfy the needs of the population and insurance companies.
From this point, the Obama administration acts in relation to the principles of deontology because the government is responsible for providing the population with the adequate services according to the Affordable Care Act, and the government is also responsible for stating and fixing the associated problems because of the moral duty (Lewis and Gilman 121).
That is why the government should change the approach to presenting the situation to the public. It is important to state clearly what problems the administration faces and what actions are realized to resolve the difficulties and in what terms.
The second alternative policy is based on the principles of the teleology. The inadequate work of the website can cause a lot of further problems in the health care and insurance industries because people have no opportunities to resolve their insurance questions appropriately, for instance, low-income persons can receive the refusal to have the necessary Medicaid.
Moreover, a lot of confusing information received by insurance companies because of the work of the website also causes many problems. As a result, the consequences of the process can be unpredictable and rather negative. Referring to the possible negative consequences of the current work of the website, it is necessary to cease the work of the website for a definite period of time till all the defects are fixed in order to avoid the further difficulties (Lewis and Gilman 122).
The next variant of the solution is connected with the necessity to propose the alternative resource for supporting the Affordable Care Act and providing the necessary marketplace. The Obama administration can be discussed as obligatory for presenting the conditions for the effective implementation and functioning of the Affordable Care Act as well as associated resources.
Following the moral judgment and results of thinking over the problem, the Obama administration should support the idea that the Affordable Care Act and the HealthCare.gov website are good for promoting the public’s health and well-being (Lewis and Gilman 121). That is why the HealthCare.gov website can be changed with the alternative resources for the period when the technical problems and defects associated with the work of the site and its content can be fixed.
Policy Recommendation
The recommended policy to overcome the issue is the first alternative which is focused on improving the current approaches used by the Obama administration in order to cope with the experienced difficulties. The ethical concerns associated with the HealthCare.gov website problem are the observed silence of the government in relation to explaining the situation and earlier refusals to comment on the situation in order to state clearly what aspects caused the problem and what changes to overcome the difficulties should be done.
Having implemented the HealthCare.gov website as the supportive activities associated with the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration took the responsibility not only for the health of the nation because of providing the possibilities for purchasing insurance easily but also for the appropriate work of the website as the guarantee of the whole system’s work.
That is why, responding to the principles of deontology, it is necessary to state that the problems are observed and to demonstrate the ways to resolve the difficulties to the public. It is important to prevent the situation when the nation can discuss the Affordable Care Act as misguided because of the inappropriate work of the associated services and resources as the Republicans focus on this fact in their speeches.
The process of fixing the problems should be open to the public, and the previous strategy to keep silence in relation to the observed defects followed by the government should be changed. To demonstrate the respect for the human dignity and emphasize the duty and responsibility as the basic ethical principles, the Obama administration should develop the effective plan of improving the website’s work (Lewis and Gilman 120-121).
Conclusion
To avoid the further development of the problem associated with the HealthCare.gov website because people can continue purchasing and exchanging the insurance according to the inadequate conditions, the Obama administration should follow the chosen plan of actions to fix the problem. However, a set of improvements is necessary to demonstrate the government’s focus on people’s needs and readiness to take responsibility for the weaknesses in the proposed policy or connected services.
Works Cited
Goldstein, Amy. HealthCare.gov’s glitches prompt Obama to call in more computer experts. 2013.
Lewis, Carol, and Stuart Gilman. The Ethics Challenge in Public Service: A Problem-Solving Guide. USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print.