The American people are losing patience and the Obama administration is losing credibility, and it all has a little something to do with the PR crisis that is the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare" as many call the new healthcare law.
Since the launch of the healthcare.gov website on October 1, the Obama administration has faced PR mishap after PR mishap, but it still seems little has been done to correct Obamacare glitches. President Obama and his administration have issued countless speeches in the past two months explaining malfunctions and answering questions about the new healthcare program. But time and time again, the administration has broken a cardinal PR rule: they are over-promising and under-delivering.
The Obamacare website still cannot handle more than 50,000 users at once, and the administration has missed its self-imposed deadline to fix these glitches. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recommended to users earlier this week to visit the site during "off-peak hours" when there is less traffic, but answer this: Would you visit a website at inconvenient, "off-peak" hours to shop for a product you are being forced to buy (or face a penalty if you opt out)? This is the case with Obamacare, and many users are becoming frustrated. The Affordable Care Act is requiring people to get covered, but officials are telling people they can't even sign up at convenient times because the administration hasn't quite figured out how to keep the website from crashing.
A fellow blogger put it perfectly earlier this week: "Your actions speak so loudly that I cannot hear what you say." The Obama administration is making all the right promises ("Obamacare will be successful," "Give it time," etc.), but they have yet to fulfill these promises. The administration has also been caught in a few dishonesties regarding Obamacare; for example, saying they were not aware of the website glitches prior to launch and Obama's "If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan" promise. But the public is starting to realize that the administration's actions are not lining up with their words, and this has been a big hit to their credibility.
We learn in PR classes that in the midst of a crisis situation, it is important to assume full responsibility and do your best to fix the situation, even if it isn't your fault. Instead of accepting responsibility and apologizing, the Obama administration just keeps making excuses and new promises (that haven't been met). As the days go on, each of Obama's "sorry not sorry" Obamacare speeches are meaning less and less to the American people.
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