Topic: Healthcare Gov

A comparison is made between Biden's constitutional oath to protect the Constitution and his recent statement that the government's most important function is "protecting the American people." The hosts also mock his promise of a new vaccine-finding website, recalling the billion-dollar failure of the original Obamacare website.

An attempt to sign up for health insurance through the federal exchange resulted in an immediate barrage of over 60 telemarketing calls from insurance brokers. The host describes how entering a phone number on Healthcare.gov led to invasive harassment from automated systems and brokers across multiple states. A live "troll" call during the segment illustrates the ongoing issue of data privacy and solicitation.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest defended the Affordable Care Act as premiums are set to rise significantly across the country. Earnest warned that the penalty for not having insurance—roughly $700—is a significant cost that can be avoided by signing up on Healthcare.gov. Critics argue that for many, the penalty is still cheaper than a single month of high-deductible insurance premiums, which continue to climb in states like Washington.

A review of past comments by former Federal CTO Vivek Kundra highlights the procurement and technology failures of Healthcare.gov. The discussion centers on the government's reliance on "1960s era technology" and "skip logic" in modern administrative systems.

President Obama describes the creation of the U.S. Digital Service, a team of tech experts from Google and Facebook who "volunteer" to fix government IT systems. The hosts criticize the administration for relying on volunteers in t-shirts to fix critical infrastructure while spending billions on defense contractors. They question why the government doesn't simply hire and pay competent staff.

The hosts cover three tech news items: the Obama administration's reversal on sharing consumer data from Healthcare.gov with private advertisers, Ford's use of "active noise control" to play fake engine sounds through car speakers, and historical inaccuracies in the film "The Imitation Game." They note the movie ignores the Polish cryptologists who first broke the Enigma code.

The hosts debate the logic behind the three-month enrollment window for the Affordable Care Act. While one host finds the restriction annoying, the other explains that the window exists to prevent people from only purchasing insurance after they become ill, which would collapse the insurance pool.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the construction of Healthcare.gov cost $840 million, a figure the hosts find ridiculous for a website. They critique the "pathetic" state of tech reporting and return to their "bromance" with AP reporter Matt Lee, praising his snide questioning of State Department officials like Jen Psaki.

First Lady Michelle Obama participated in the annual NORAD Santa Tracker program, answering phone calls from children on Christmas Eve. Transcripts reveal the First Lady informed children that Santa was flying over South Sudan and Rwanda. Observers contrasted the high technical performance of the Santa tracking website with the significant technical failures of the Healthcare.gov rollout.

Police in Massachusetts seized 1,200 packets of heroin branded with the name "Obamacare," reflecting a trend of drug dealers using pop-culture labels. Meanwhile, President Obama symbolically enrolled in the DC health exchange, though his staff reportedly encountered difficulties verifying his identity in government databases.

An insider email claims that initial technical failures at Healthcare.gov were caused by a network cable being plugged into the wrong port, effectively DDoSing the system. The source also alleges that the government has no backups for the platform's data.

Adriana, the woman whose face appeared on the original Healthcare.gov homepage, speaks to ABC News about being bullied online as "Glitch Girl." The hosts highlight that despite the website's $600 million budget, the model was never paid for the use of her stock photo. They also note her status as a non-citizen eligible for the program.

Indian CBI chief Ranjit Sinha faces outrage for a comment comparing gambling to rape. Meanwhile, Valerie Jarrett defends the progress of the Healthcare.gov website, citing the leadership of Jeff Zients. The hosts mock the "grinding away" rhetoric and point out that CBS News segments are sponsored by Walmart "promotion machine" commercials.

The Belgian parliament is debating a bill that would extend euthanasia rights to terminally ill minors under the age of 18. Adam Curry expresses skepticism, viewing the story as propaganda designed to reintroduce the "death panel" concept in the United States amidst the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. He argues that the legal reality of euthanasia in Europe is more complex than reported in American media.

Former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra is criticized for his commentary on the technical failures of Healthcare.gov. During a CNN appearance, Kundra suggested the site should have used private sector cloud solutions like Salesforce or Amazon rather than legacy systems. The hosts mock Kundra's "PhD in procurement" and his claim that the site used 800 physical servers for authentication.

A dinner with a group of Obama supporters and a computer science professor reveals a sense of apathy among Democrats regarding the NSA and the failures of Healthcare.gov. The professor, who has access to the University of Texas supercomputer center, acknowledges the technical disaster of the health insurance exchange website. Documents revealed that only six people successfully enrolled in the site during its first 24 hours of operation.

The White House released a series of videos featuring citizens praising the Healthcare.gov website and the Affordable Care Act. The videos, described as "Lenny Riefenstahl" style propaganda, show users claiming the site is easy to use despite widespread technical failures. One testimonial highlights a user saving money by switching from COBRA to a $350 monthly plan.

Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified that the Healthcare.gov website cost approximately $118 million. IT insiders report that the contractors, including CGI Federal, failed to use basic version control systems like Git or Subversion. The project is described as "amateur hour," with testing consisting of simple command-line tools rather than robust quality assurance.

A clip from a congressional hearing regarding the failed launch of Healthcare.gov features an Illinois representative referring to the proceedings as a "monkey court." The hosts analyze the representative's choice of words and compare the term to "kangaroo court" or "banana republic."

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius faces criticism for her response to resignation calls. Testimony from consultants at QSSI and CGI Federal reveals that approximately eight change orders were issued for the Healthcare.gov website, including a last-minute directive to disable anonymous window shopping and force user registration.