The Real Lesson of Recovery.gov
Nov 23rd, 2009 by David Anderson
By Adam Bitely
This week, major concerns were raised in the blogosphere about the integrity of the data reported on the infamous Recovery.gov. How can the Government officials advocate that they can efficiently run a national Medical Records database if they cannot control Recovery.gov? In the below piece originally printed on NetRightNation.com, I discuss this issue:
Government Will Fail on Health Care Record Keeping
As the era of Big Government begins to wear on people, a multitude of evidence has come to the fore to show us just how inefficient and even dangerous the growth of government can be.
While many debate the role of Government in Health Care, one issue has emerged that should the argument to rest. Can the Government effectively manage the Health Care records of over 300 million people in an online database—as called for in the Obama Health Care bill?
This week we all learned that the Government couldn’t keep track of the Stimulus spending on what they branded a revolutionary website, Recovery.gov. How, then, will they be able to keep track of all 300 million plus Health Care records in their “revolutionary” Health Care database? One must ponder this as we are being sold a bill of goods.
What will happen when the system inevitably collapses as the Recovery.gov system has? Will we simply get an explanation over Twitter? If that sounds outlandish, that’s exactly what they did yesterday when the buffoons behind Recovery.gov tweeted that “Unless an egregious error is noted, Recovery.gov posts data exactly as it is reported by the recipients.” Apparently no apparatus exists to provide the needed oversight. Troubling.
The current administration reminded us for the better part of the last year about a lack in oversight, a claim which is completely false. However, judging from the performance of the record keeping at Revovery.gov and by those in charge of the Stimulus spending, it’s hard to assert that there is oversight in any form. It appears that Government cannot provide quality oversight.
Fear of the new Health Care overhaul is natural. Claims that the Government will be able to provide accurate and efficient record keeping of our medical records is not natural in light of recent events.
Adam Bitely is the Executive Director of NetRightNation.com
