4 ms·

Ask HN: Would it be possible to open-source healthcare.gov?

16 points by zekenie 13y ago

Sounds crazy, but why isn't public software, well... public?

precium 13y ago
Actually the system is set up to guarantee that even federally funded software, and associated research is restricted from being made available to the public. Some cogent comments on why this so, from a minor rant on this topic. http://goo.gl/ISdpc7 http://goo.gl/ISdpc7
elviejo 13y ago
I was thinking the same... the source code for the portal is in fact open source: https://github.com/CMSgov/healthcare.gov https://github.com/CMSgov/healthcare.gov But the code for the marketplace isn't. I think if the marketplace was open bug fixing would be faster.
- zekenie 13y ago
  I agree. Do you think anyone would contribute?
  - elviejo 13y ago
    Yes for two reasons: 1. "Scratching your own itch". There are several hackers / freelancers that want to enroll in healthcare and want that website to work. 2. "Altruism". There are plenty of hackers that want better healthcare for the USA and would gladly help to make that happen. Even if they aren't from the USA.
    - thetylerhayes 13y ago
      This. There are already so many hackers working on open source projects for the government, even healthcare in government, that there would be no shortage of willing helping hands.
- skram 13y ago
  ... and it's not even on github anymore. https://github.com/CMSgov https://github.com/CMSgov
devx 13y ago
It certainly should be, as well as most other such software funded by taxpayer money.
HillRat 13y ago
Healthcare.gov interfaces with so many internal systems, and was subcontracted to so many parties (including big players like Experian who are exceedingly private about their software), that you couldn't untangle the hairball. If my experience with CMS and other goverment (F, S & L) is any guide, you'd have to have extensive documentation about their particular applications running on everything from Oracle to DB2 to VSAM tables, taking input from ONC RPC calls, ZMODEM file uploads, CORBA requests, and TTY emulators. Not exactly something that you can just jump in and work on. Beyond that, even if h/c.gov was, say, thrown up on GitHub, you couldn't just tweak some files and issue a pull request; everything has to go through FISMA audits, which make your traditional waterfall change request look like updating a blog post.
- grumps 13y ago
  The main site is a static file generation stuff build by Development Seed. The marketplace was mostly likely built on cruft enterprise software built by government consulting firms.
- zekenie 13y ago
  True, it wouldn't be something that folks would work on for a sunday and make a pull request, but there's a ton of really important, open source software that the world relies on. Pull requests would have to be heavily vetted against complex tests and audits, I suppose, but it seems like a way to get a lot more muscle on the problem. Or maybe muscle isn't the problem? I guess I'm having a hard time understanding what the problem is...
grumps 13y ago
I've worked with contractors that own have built web applications for the government.[1] Sadly this par for the course with respect to the scalability and usability of these sites. These teams are typically only concerned about following documentation processes and meeting their security standards. I can't cite anything to prove this, but I'm really not going the route of slander, just speaking from personal experience. [1]http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/2013/aca-contractors/ http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/2013/aca-contractors...
doubt_me 13y ago
Ask the company who was contracted to build it http://www.cgi.com/en http://www.cgi.com/en

16 points by zekenie 13y ago

Sounds crazy, but why isn't public software, well... public?

Actually the system is set up to guarantee that even federally funded software, and associated research is restricted from being made available to the public. Some cogent comments on why this so, from a minor rant on this topic. http://goo.gl/ISdpc7 http://goo.gl/ISdpc7

elviejo 13y ago

I was thinking the same... the source code for the portal is in fact open source: https://github.com/CMSgov/healthcare.gov https://github.com/CMSgov/healthcare.gov But the code for the marketplace isn't. I think if the marketplace was open bug fixing would be faster.

zekenie 13y ago
I agree. Do you think anyone would contribute?
- elviejo 13y ago
  Yes for two reasons: 1. "Scratching your own itch". There are several hackers / freelancers that want to enroll in healthcare and want that website to work. 2. "Altruism". There are plenty of hackers that want better healthcare for the USA and would gladly help to make that happen. Even if they aren't from the USA.
  - thetylerhayes 13y ago
    This. There are already so many hackers working on open source projects for the government, even healthcare in government, that there would be no shortage of willing helping hands.
skram 13y ago
... and it's not even on github anymore. https://github.com/CMSgov https://github.com/CMSgov

devx 13y ago

It certainly should be, as well as most other such software funded by taxpayer money.

HillRat 13y ago

Healthcare.gov interfaces with so many internal systems, and was subcontracted to so many parties (including big players like Experian who are exceedingly private about their software), that you couldn't untangle the hairball. If my experience with CMS and other goverment (F, S & L) is any guide, you'd have to have extensive documentation about their particular applications running on everything from Oracle to DB2 to VSAM tables, taking input from ONC RPC calls, ZMODEM file uploads, CORBA requests, and TTY emulators. Not exactly something that you can just jump in and work on. Beyond that, even if h/c.gov was, say, thrown up on GitHub, you couldn't just tweak some files and issue a pull request; everything has to go through FISMA audits, which make your traditional waterfall change request look like updating a blog post.

grumps 13y ago
The main site is a static file generation stuff build by Development Seed. The marketplace was mostly likely built on cruft enterprise software built by government consulting firms.
zekenie 13y ago
True, it wouldn't be something that folks would work on for a sunday and make a pull request, but there's a ton of really important, open source software that the world relies on. Pull requests would have to be heavily vetted against complex tests and audits, I suppose, but it seems like a way to get a lot more muscle on the problem. Or maybe muscle isn't the problem? I guess I'm having a hard time understanding what the problem is...

grumps 13y ago

I've worked with contractors that own have built web applications for the government.[1] Sadly this par for the course with respect to the scalability and usability of these sites. These teams are typically only concerned about following documentation processes and meeting their security standards. I can't cite anything to prove this, but I'm really not going the route of slander, just speaking from personal experience. [1]http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/2013/aca-contractors/ http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/2013/aca-contractors...

doubt_me 13y ago

Ask the company who was contracted to build it http://www.cgi.com/en http://www.cgi.com/en