Obamacare website looks “like nobody tested it,” programmer says

Daily News Article   —   Posted on October 10, 2013

(CBS News) Healthcare.gov launched more than a week ago, and while millions of Americans have signed into the site, not many have been able to actually sign up for insurance because of glitches with the website.

Administration officials implementing the new health care law [were] on the hot seat [yesterday] as the House Oversight Committee hopes to find out what the problems were.

Committee Chairman Darrell Issa told CBS News’ Jan Crawford that he plans to ask how the mess surrounding the website could even happen.

No one knows how many people have managed to enroll because the administration refuses to release those numbers, but the website’s launch has been rocky.

Media outlets have struggled to find anyone who’s actually been successful. The Washington Post even illustrated that sought-after person as a unicorn, and USA Today called the launch an “inexcusable mess” and a “nightmare.”

White House officials initially blamed the problem on an unexpectedly high volume as they had more than 8 million hits in the first week, but after it went offline over the weekend for repairs, officials now acknowledge other problems.

“We’ve identified the glitches, we’ve added hardware, we’re recoding software, and I can tell you today is better than yesterday, and we are hoping in the very near future to have a seamless process that’s what we are aiming for,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said.

However, computer experts say the website has major flaws.

“It wasn’t designed well, it wasn’t implemented well, and it looks like nobody tested it,” said Luke Chung, an online database programmer.

Chung supports the new health care law but said it was not the demand that is crashing the site. He thinks the entire website needs a complete overhaul.

“It’s not even close. It’s not even ready for beta testing for my book. I would be ashamed and embarrassed if my organization delivered something like that,” he said.

There are new reports that some people who tried to register but were blocked from enrolling were asked to reset their passwords Tuesday and that more people will be asked to do the same.

Chung told Crawford that this change is a clue that they are making major changes to the system’s foundation. He also said it is a sign of progress and that they finally have the people who know what needs to be done to fix the problems.

Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from CBS News. Visit the website at cbsnews.com.