Op-ed pick: What went wrong with the federal health care exchange?

In the New York Times, Ezekiel Emanuel suggests some fixes for the troubled healthcare.gov site and lays out how the Obama administration got it wrong by being slow, bureaucratic and insular.

Massachusetts has had years of experience with its exchange, and there are private exchanges, like eHealth, where individuals can shop for insurance. In addition, many states, like California, Connecticut and Kentucky, had already spent around two years building their exchanges, gaining experience and proving it was possible to create a good customer shopping experience. It does not appear that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or its contractors spent much time reviewing these models and adopting best practices.

Emanuel has a five-step process to not only get the site up and running, but to make sure the "young invincibles" sign up.

...the Americans who are likely to endure the frustrations are those who most need coverage — older people with expensive health problems. If the site is too much of a hassle, the healthy 20- and 30-year-olds the system desperately needs to enroll won’t go through the trouble. Everything should done to make their purchasing experience smooth.

Read his entire plan here.

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