December 2013

[Commentary] The Obama Administration says it has made enormous improvements in its website for enrolling consumers in new health insurance plans. There are still major hurdles to surmount, but the strides made raise the prospects that the website will be able to help millions of Americans buy policies from private insurers on new insurance exchanges, either by Dec. 23, the deadline for policies that will take effect on Jan. 1, or by March 31, the deadline for taking out coverage without being fined.

There will be federal subsidies to help those on modest incomes pay the premiums. The big challenge ahead is to upgrade the back-end systems that transmit information to insurance companies so that they can complete the enrollment process. Consumers have until Dec. 23 to sign up for policies effective on Jan. 1, leaving only three weeks to solve the back-end problem. In some cases, insurers have no record of some people who think they have enrolled or have received inaccurate or incomplete information for some enrollees. One big problem is that some insurers say they have not been told what subsidies a customer will get and what premium should be paid by the customer. If those problems can’t be fixed quickly, the administration will need to find alternate ways for people to enroll and get subsidies without going through the website.

Andrew and Chris Cuomo are as close as brothers can be. They fish together, they vacation together and they tinker on cars together. But when it comes to their careers, the brothers usually draw a line: Cuomo the governor and Cuomo the journalist stay out of each other’s way. Even that barrier seemed to evaporate on Dec 2, when Gov Andrew M. Cuomo (D-NY) popped up on CNN to be interviewed by Chris Cuomo, a host of the network’s morning show, “New Day.” The unusual six-minute segment, which focused on the fatal Metro-North train derailment on Dec 1, did not go unnoticed by media watchers, some of whom questioned whether it was appropriate for a journalist on a news program to interview a close relative.

[Commentary] Companies challenging New York's extension of its online sales tax are concerned by the prospect of navigating a variety of state laws. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case, the online retailers are not out of options if their issue is consistency. They should go to Congress to set a national standard on the rules for taxing online purchases. The Senate recently passed the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013, which would require companies with online sales of $1 million or more to apply state sales taxes to purchases.

Silicon Valley and its environs continue to lure the tech talent Washington craves.

The perks and prestige of Bay Area companies have always served as a powerful draw for young engineers -- incentives the federal government and its community of contractors can scarcely match. And while the Obama administration has worked to reverse this trend, HealthCare.gov’s pronounced stumbles underscore a public-sector culture that often turns off creative minds, limits ingenuity and fails to attract those hoping to influence the next generation of technology. “It’s perception of opportunity,” said Mike McGeary, co-founder of Engine Advocacy, a San Francisco group that helps engage start-ups in public policy. “I don’t know anyone who majors in computer science at Stanford and says, ‘I’m going to be a government bureaucrat.’”