The difficulties of Healthcare.gov need to be seen in the context of an acrimonious political climate and the poor record of large and complex IT projects

The past week has seen enormous criticism leveled at the rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s online enrollment platform, HealthCare.gov. Jane E. Fountain looks at the development of HealthCare.gov, and argues that the present delays and difficulties must be seen in the wider context of an incredibly complex system across public and private sectors, involving 55 contractors, five government agencies, 300 insurers and the integration of many new and old software components. With enrollments continuing, and the Obama administration’s attention focused on the problem, current critiques should be seen as making political theatre out of bumps in the road.