Geeks solve heathcare.gov issues in a weekend.
Posted by: J. McMahon on 11/19/2013 10:50 AM
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Ok, I don't want to get too political here. MajorGeeks.com really doesn't seem to be the place for that sort of discourse. But that said, I've always believed in the power of private entrepreneurs over that of Government Bureaucrats. Given the nature of MajorGeeks, I'm sure none of you are shocked by that admission and recently there has never been a better metaphor for that belief than the current helathcare.gov website fiasco.
Ok ... That's not a news flash. But all you code monkeys can go ahead and admit that you've been quietly at your desk the last month giggling to yourself and thinking, "I could crank that out in a weekend." and dreaming of what you could have spent the 170 mill on. I know I have. Well, the guys at Health Sherpa did exactly that earlier this month. Health Sherpa is a site designed by 3 coders (Michael Wasser, Ning Liang, and George Kalogeropoulos) over a weekends time for a 'couple of hundred" dollars (probably all in pizza and coffee) .
These three are not a company, a non-for-profit or any sort of money making entity, for now. They just wanted to help out, sat down and solved the problem. The group simply took the data feed provided by healthcare.gov and formatted it into something easy search and categorize for the user... and presto a working insurance exchange.
Now the site isn't 100% functional, but that is not Health Sherpas fault. Some states, like New York have their own exchanges and do not share data. Also, for a user to qualify for Government subsidies, the providing site must be approved by the Federal Government. They are currently in that approval possess but for now they have a calculator that will show you what subsidy you could get -- when Healthcare.gov works or their approval comes through.
So what's the lesson to be learned here? That's simple. I'll sum it up with an equation: Geeks + Pizza + Coffee > Government Contractors. 'Nuff said.
Geeks FTW!
Ok ... That's not a news flash. But all you code monkeys can go ahead and admit that you've been quietly at your desk the last month giggling to yourself and thinking, "I could crank that out in a weekend." and dreaming of what you could have spent the 170 mill on. I know I have. Well, the guys at Health Sherpa did exactly that earlier this month. Health Sherpa is a site designed by 3 coders (Michael Wasser, Ning Liang, and George Kalogeropoulos) over a weekends time for a 'couple of hundred" dollars (probably all in pizza and coffee) .
These three are not a company, a non-for-profit or any sort of money making entity, for now. They just wanted to help out, sat down and solved the problem. The group simply took the data feed provided by healthcare.gov and formatted it into something easy search and categorize for the user... and presto a working insurance exchange.
Now the site isn't 100% functional, but that is not Health Sherpas fault. Some states, like New York have their own exchanges and do not share data. Also, for a user to qualify for Government subsidies, the providing site must be approved by the Federal Government. They are currently in that approval possess but for now they have a calculator that will show you what subsidy you could get -- when Healthcare.gov works or their approval comes through.
So what's the lesson to be learned here? That's simple. I'll sum it up with an equation: Geeks + Pizza + Coffee > Government Contractors. 'Nuff said.
Geeks FTW!
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