Nutcase nadin Pinpoints The Healthcare Website Problem

[GOBUCKS]

Her resume needs to be updated for the second time this week.

Tue Oct 22, 2013, 05:10 PM
WilliamPitt (55,575 posts)
"Legacy Computer Systems": Interesting take on the ACA rollout problems

 Via Josh Marshall at TPM:

Misunderstanding the Problem?

Are we not grasping the nature of the problem itself? TPM Reader ST says the issue isn't so much the website as legacy computer systems throughout the federal bureaucracy and the need to stitch them all together until a single interface.
 
From a TPM reader:

blah, blah, blah....

Healthcare.gov is basically just showing you your menu of insurance options, taking your order for insurance, and bringing everything back to you when the order is complete. In tech terms, it's just the front end. All the heavy lifting takes place on the back end, when the website passes your data to an extremely complex array of systems that span multiple agencies (like so many cooks in a kitchen). A central processing hub needs to get data from each of these systems to successfully serve a user and sign up for insurance.

Blah, blah....

The problem is that throwing more capacity at the website itself, or praising or criticizing how it was built, is as useless as criticizing a server when it's the kitchen that messed up. Maybe cathartic, but not much else.
 
The complexity involved in making all these systems work together is tremendous. Reader RN doubted that there are 500 million lines of code involved, but if you add up what originally went into building 10 or so huge systems, across multiple agencies, plus all the stuff to make them work together, 500 million lines of code might be realistic. (Especially as many of these systems are old and have been patched and built onto many times.)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023902719

Response to WilliamPitt (Original post)
Tue Oct 22, 2013, 05:12 PM
Pretzel_Warrior (3,943 posts)

1. which begs the question as to why this data isn't ported over to data warehouses once a day
instead of transactionally interacting with legacy systems for all users.

Response to Pretzel_Warrior (Reply #1)
Tue Oct 22, 2013, 05:15 PM
HERVEPA (2,829 posts)

2. As a mainframe (Legacy) programmer who sends data
to a data warehouse, I've seen that it often gets mangled and distorted in said warehouse.

I don't know about you, but when I hear a technical discussion about something where I have little knowledge, my natural inclination is to ask, "What does nadin think?"

Response to WilliamPitt (Original post)
Tue Oct 22, 2013, 05:21 PM
nadinbrzezinski (127,200 posts)

4. Some servers in the Federal Bureaucracy still use COBOL
HTML 5 compliant sites have issues playing well with COBOL

Response to nadinbrzezinski (Reply #4)
Tue Oct 22, 2013, 05:55 PM
kiawah (17 posts)

9. There's nothing wrong with COBOL and Mainframes....
Most big data crunching business still use it (banks, insurance companies, etc.). It's very stable and does its job well....

Response to kiawah (Reply #9)
Tue Oct 22, 2013, 05:57 PM
nadinbrzezinski (127,200 posts)

11. And people who do this for a living, have pointed out
that lack of beta testing, as in extensive, and legacy computer language is leading to these issues. Chiefly, as mentioned yesterday in the NPR story, COBOL has issues talking with HTML5. It is not a matter of stability, but communications.
 
(As they put it, it is in the translation program)

[Traveshamockery]

Whew!  She finally weighed in.  I think we will await further responses from Nadin before adding computer program specialist to her resume. 

[98ZJUSMC]

Resume update.

Mainframe Systems Analysis Technician.

Whew!  She finally weighed in.  I think we will await further responses from Nadin before adding computer program specialist to her resume. 

Give it about 30 minutes, or so..... 

[Karin]

Anybody who's been through a large corporate merger knows the legacy system problems.  But since the best and brightest weren't on the job in the first place, this was bound to happen.  Michelle's Twitter servants (who were furloughed in the slimdown), were on the case instead.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Anybody who's been through a large corporate merger knows the legacy system problems.  But since the best and brightest weren't on the job in the first place, this was bound to happen.  Michelle's Twitter servants (who were furloughed in the slimdown), were on the case instead.

Too bad we couldn't get Moochelle to slimdown herself.

[67 Rover]

I would not be surprised if they used Fortran 77 to write that health killer mess.

[Dori]

The insurance companies are the ones who are going to get the short end of the stick.  Why can't they sign everyone up and when the government finally gets it's act together, they can then transmit the information to them. 



 

[Bad Dog]

The insurance companies are the ones who are going to get the short end of the stick.  Why can't they sign everyone up and when the government finally gets it's act together, they can then transmit the information to them. 



 

Because they won't be able to hand out a bunch of cash to 30 million plus potential democrap voters.  The point of this whole exercise.

[Dori]

Because they won't be able to hand out a bunch of cash to 30 million plus potential democrap voters.  The point of this whole exercise.

Yeah, but there are hundreds of thousands of people being kicked off their insurance policies come the end of the year.  What are they supposed to do about being covered and if the insurance companies enrolled to insure these people don't get their premiums, how are they supposed to survive without going bankrupt waiting on the government?

[Bad Dog]

Yeah, but there are hundreds of thousands of people being kicked off their insurance policies come the end of the year.  What are they supposed to do about being covered and if the insurance companies enrolled to insure these people don't get their premiums, how are they supposed to survive without going bankrupt waiting on the government?

Perhaps they aren't.  Nobody said socialized healthcare was going to be easy (except O'bummer of course).

[Dori]

Perhaps they aren't.  Nobody said socialized healthcare was going to be easy (except O'bummer of course).

So do you think it's deliberate to bankrupt the insurance industry and have the government take it over?

Why wouldn't that surprise me. 

It's sure to wind up in the Supreme Court again.

[Gina]

All of them are going on the iggy list 

[J P Sousa]

I think the real S*** will hit the fan when people who eventually sign up for BarryCare try to use it, try to find a doctor, see the huge deductible.

Barry will need a Marine division to protect the White House.

.

[Bad Dog]

So do you think it's deliberate to bankrupt the insurance industry and have the government take it over?

Why wouldn't that surprise me. 

It's sure to wind up in the Supreme Court again.

Not really, Medicare set the legal precedent.  You will note DUmmies refer to single payer as Medicare for everyone.  The big benefit, since it is for everyone, They can get rid of the Medicare tax and pay for it out of the general fund allowing them to hide the true cost of the program.

[Gina]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/16/1248081/-At-least-238-000-signed-up-for-Obamacare-HELP-NEEDED#

--The magic number is 7 million, and the date for that magic number is March 30, 2014.  That's the number that the Obama administration has been openly touting as their goal for the first 6 months of the exchanges; apparently, if they hit that mark, the law should be financially successful; if they fall short, it probably won't (at least not initially). Of course, it also depends on who signs up--ideally, they want a good chunk of those 7 million to be young, healthy folks (the type unlikely to actually use too many healthcare services), to shore up the cost of the rest of us.  <-----you are an asshole.
 
To hit 7 million in 6 months, they'll have to average at least 270,000 signups per week. However, the signup numbers will fluctuate greatly depending on the time (expect a spike in signups as we approach Dec. 15th), so I'm not too concerned...yet.

[zeitgeist]

I think the real S*** will hit the fan when people who eventually sign up for BarryCare try to use it, try to find a doctor, see the huge deductible.

Barry will need a Marine division to protect the White House.

.

Here is the way I see it:  DUmmy A_hole gets a sniffle without Obambie care, He/she/it goes to the emergency room because there are no free clinics open after dark in the 'hood.  A_hole is treated and released.  The bill goes to A_hole who does not pay it.  It gets absorbed back into the costs of those who do pay.  Under Obambie care A_hole gets a sniffle, still goes to the emergency room because he/she/it is to lazy or stupid to find a doctor, who isn't available off shift anyway in most cases, or says "if this is an emergency, go to the emergency room" on the nightline voice mail.  The bill goes to an insurance company who redistributes the cost to those who pay.  What am I missing here?   

[Bad Dog]

Here is the way I see it:  DUmmy A_hole gets a sniffle without Obambie care, He/she/it goes to the emergency room because there are no free clinics open after dark in the 'hood.  A_hole is treated and released.  The bill goes to A_hole who does not pay it.  It gets absorbed back into the costs of those who do pay.  Under Obambie care A_hole gets a sniffle, still goes to the emergency room because he/she/it is to lazy or stupid to find a doctor, who isn't available off shift anyway in most cases, or says "if this is an emergency, go to the emergency room" on the nightline voice mail.  The bill goes to an insurance company who redistributes the cost to those who pay.  What am I missing here?   

One thing you are missing is that if said DUmmie has the sniffles because he/she/it is addicted to heroin, they will now get an all expense paid vacation at the Betty Ford Clinic. Pre-O'bummercare he/she/it would die in a puddle of it's own urine in an alley in Cleveland.

[delilahmused]

I guess the best and the brightest weren't working on this because they wanted socialists instead of professionals.

Cindie

[zeitgeist]

One thing you are missing is that if said DUmmie has the sniffles because he/she/it is addicted to heroin, they will now get an all expense paid vacation at the Betty Ford Clinic. Pre-O'bummercare he/she/it would die in a puddle of it's own urine in an alley in Cleveland.

Yup, I forgot about.  Is this a great country or what?

[GOBUCKS]

I guess the best and the brightest weren't working on this

No, they were working on East County Magazine.

[zeitgeist]

I guess the best and the brightest weren't working on this because they wanted socialists instead of professionals.

Cindie

The 'A' team is usually a bunch of pencil necked geeks who are not all about the 'glory', they just like to write slick code, the elegant small routines that solve complex problems.  You usually don't want them at the principals meetings 'cause they are often a bit grubby and almost always outspoken about realistic milestones, hardware, testing, and implementation dates. Think real life Dilbert versus the pointy haired boss.  We have now seen the results of the senior management pointy haired boss team and its glory hounds.  The geeks will be rousted from their cube farms and pressed into service fixing the botched mess made by the wanna be heroes who took all the bows at he grin an grip ceremony.  It is way harder to patch and repair glory hound code than start new.   I can hear the bitchin from here.  

[miskie]

Tue Oct 22, 2013, 05:21 PM
 

4. Some servers in the Federal Bureaucracy still use COBOL
HTML 5 compliant sites have issues playing well with COBOL

Wow. Just, wow.

COBOL is a programming language. It isn't designed for(and frankly, is incapable of) feeding data to a browser, such as the scripting language HTML. This is akin to comparing the ozone layer to a walnut. - The only thing these two have in common is they originate on earth. What COBOL and HTML5 have in common is they both run on computers.

Now, it is 'possible' to indirectly display COBOL output on a browser - via a java dumb terminal applet, but it's the applet doing the work, not the browser itself.   

[DumbAss Tanker]

I'm sure a huge part of the problem was micromanagement by HHS politicals to change major shit about the deliverables for the past year on a daily basis, plus a late-breaking requirement to hide the actual pricing structure as thoroughly as possible.

[franksolich]

No, they were working on East County Magazine.

I thought the oblate spheroid promised the primitives and us she wasn't going to do any more analysis.

Another one of her promises, broken.

[Big Dog]

Yeah, but there are hundreds of thousands of people being kicked off their insurance policies come the end of the year.  What are they supposed to do about being covered and if the insurance companies enrolled to insure these people don't get their premiums, how are they supposed to survive without going bankrupt waiting on the government?

Josef Stalin killed 60 million Soviets, Eastern Europeans, and Asians in service to his leftist, collectivist, statist ideology.

Mao Tse Tung killed 70 million Asians in service to his leftist, collectivist, statist ideology.

Adolph Hitler killed 14 million people on three continents in service to his leftist, collectivist, statist ideology.

King Hussein knows he can't make a fundamental transformation omelet without breaking a few million eggs. "If it saves one life", after all.