FOR THE WEEK OF OCT. 28, 2013

Federal health care website snags turn into hot political issue

Find news or commentary about the Affordable Care Act or its enrollment website. Is it clear and balanced?

Look for other computer-related coverage and tell how the topic could affect students or older users.

What advantages do books, letters, face-to-face conversations and printed newspapers have over digital versions?

We’ve all been frustrated by Internet sites that load slowly or are off-line sometimes. But it’s more than a minor annoyance when that happens to a new U.S. government site that cost $400 million and is supposed to let Americans enroll for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act – a major achievement of Barack Obama’s presidency. The site – healthcare.gov – is having a shaky start since its Oct. 1 launch. It can’t handle traffic from millions of users seeking information. “No one is madder than me,” Obama says.

A growing national outcry embarrasses the White House, which won’t say how many people have managed to enroll. The president says fixes are under way, with his administration bringing in “the best and the brightest from both inside and outside government.” In the meantime, Republican critics make the website woes a new focus of attacks on a law they dislike. House committees last week began hearings into the online troubles and other complaints. “If the Web site glitches are just the tip of the iceberg, it’s only a matter of time before the law sinks and takes with it those Democrats who wrote it, voted for it and are proud of it,” says Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.

In response, Obama tells Republicans to “stop rooting” for the failure of a law that provides health insurance to people without any. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic representative from California, says the website situation “right now is unacceptable, it’s unfortunate” -- but says Americans should welcome guaranteed access to affordable health care.

Republican says: “What we’re trying to figure out is how did all this taxpayer money get wasted and what is their remedy?” – Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, chairman of a U.S. House committee

White House says: “There’s great demand for the affordable health care coverage made available. . . . The challenge . . . is to make sure the American people can access it simply. We won’t rest until they can.” -- Jennifer Palmieri, presidential communications director

Columnist says: ”It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t ‘The Exorcist’ either. It took me 20 minutes to enroll, with a few starts and stops.” – Laura Berman, The Detroit News

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