Healthcare.gov and My Future

This will be long but stay with me.  My feelings are mixed concerning the Affordable Health Care law.  Generally I’m against government expansion yet three years ago I had no way to get health insurance.  My employer did not offer health insurance and because of pre existing conditions, insurers declined my application for coverage.  So while I’m not a big fan of the Act, I know from experience there is a real need for something better than the status quo. 

I tried Healthcare.gov for myself to see how it worked and how much it would cost.  Pulled out the laptop one night and started typing.  Made it through the application process right up to the Apply Button.  And to be honest the website was not that bad.  It worked.  I could understand and follow it.  I did wonder why I had to keep entering the same information, like my address, multiple times.  I stopped at the Apply Button because I didn’t want to apply.  I simply wanted to see how much it costs.  But you can’t see how much it costs until you Apply.  I understand that applying is not the same as buying but right before the Apply button was a stern saying something like “I agree that everything I have entered is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God and that anything I have entered can and will be used against me in court.”  Now it wasn’t those exact words but you get the idea.  So rather than take a chance on being busted for an accidental keystroke, I pushed the red X and closed the page.

After using the site I’m convinced that those who call the site designers incompetent have an ulterior motive.  I suspect those critics don’t like the Affordable Health Care Act, they don’t like Obama and the website is just another way to continue the attack.  But I do agree with the critics who say that the site is poorly constructed as compared to the most successful internet sites.  A good website today will get a minimum of information and then starts providing value.  A web site that requires an hour of input before providing any value would fail to attract any serious usage. 

Which brings up the question, with three and a half years and hundreds of millions of dollars, why is Healthcare.gov just okay?  With all that time and money, why is it not great?  The answer is pretty simple, motivation.  If you look at sites like Google, YouTube, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, eBay they all have this in common.   They were built by people who had a passion for what they were doing and hoped to make a lot of money.  It is hard to beat the motivation that comes from passion and the possibility of getting rich.  That motivation was missing from Healthcare.gov.  There is a total lack of passion about the Affordable Health Care Act.  The Act is a giant compromise that nobody thought was great.  True a majority in Congress voted for it.  The liberals held their noses and voted for it as the best they could get.  While the conservatives held their noses and voted no saying at least it isn’t something worse.  No passion from either side.  And for the people doing the work, no hope of wealth either.  Maybe the CEO’s and stockholders of the companies who build the web site will do okay. But no stock options, no potential to hit it big for the people who are doing the work.  (After all they worked for the lowest bidder.) And so we get an okay at best website.

What difference does the power of working for passion or money make to me, and maybe you.  We all face choices about what to build with our lives.  I’m facing one of those times right now as I’m choosing what to build with the last third of my life.  When we make those choices we better chose to build what we are passionate about or what will make us rich.  If what I’m building doesn't satisfy some deep inner need, or have the potential to make me rich, I’m not likely to work very hard. Look around you at the people who are working really hard and getting real work done.  They are either passionate about what they are doing or are pursuing wealth.  If you are not chasing one of those things then you will not keep going over the years.  So as I look for options for the next third of my life, I better find something that I’m passionate about or will make me rich.  Or maybe even both.

Final thought – If you are a believer at all in what Jesus taught, working for riches or wealth justifiably throws up red flags.  And you are right.  Working for riches is a trap.  But not everyone can work at their passion.  Sometimes you have to work at something you good at and use the riches that come from your work as the funding for your passion.  Bottom line is, If I can’t make money doing what I’m passionate about, then I want to do something that pays really well, and will fund my passion.

And one more freebie – Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller is a great book on the biblical view of why work.

Make it a great day

Bruce