Reference no: EM133229908

The questions below are based on numerous publications collectively comprising a comprehensive case study of Healthcare.gov -- the technology platform of a universal healthcare initiative popularly known as "Obamacare" from the Obama administration days. This initiative was launched and managed by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), with independent contractors such as CGI doing the bulk of the actual work. .

• The Healthcare.gov project
• CMS management of the federal marketplace
• CGI's monthly status report for August 2013
• CMS E-mails Sep 2013

And the following update --

• The federal standard for digital services procurement

QUESTIONS

1. As a large-scale government IT project, was the envisaged Healthcare.gov platform predisposed to highly likely setbacks and failures that would have been an inevitable part of the evolution and learning process for this initiative? Or could such problems have been anticipated and proactively avoided? Address the twin issues of historical failure rates in large-scale government IT, as well as expectations management in this answer. 
2. What lessons were learned from this project in regards to the notions of "dimensions of information systems" and "complementary assets" in the textbook? 
3. The Healthcare.gov initiative entailed G2C and G2B e-commerce, whose imperatives would be different from the more common B2C and B2B types of e-commerce. Conduct some research on G2C and G2B e-commerce effectiveness and critique the "business model" being followed by CMS for Healthcare.gov. Include considerations of ethical, social, and political issues in your answer. What elements of this model appear to encompass sound practices, and which aspects could have used improvement? What changes would have addressed the shortcomings you identified?