Last month’s launch of Healthcare.gov was one of the most disastrous tech launches in recent history. In response, a trio of young programmers has stepped in with their own version of the federal health insurance platform.
San Francisco-based Nian Liang, George Kalogeropoulos, and Michael Wasser built HealthSherpa over the course of a few late nights, after being frustrated by the unintuitive nature of the official site.
"It was like, 'This is a problem that we know we can solve in a really short period of time. So let's just do it,” Wasser told CBS News.
"They got it completely backwards in terms of what people want up front," said Liang of the 55-strong team that was behind Healthcare.gov. "They want prices and benefits, so that they could make the decision."
Admittedly, HealthSherpa does not have to reckon with the some of the more difficult tasks that Healthcare.gov must reckon with, offering only a way to compare plans. However, it proposes a more user-friendly interface and serves as a reminder that simplicity is often the way to go.
