Reassessing Business Rules Engines in Government Technology: Lessons from HealthCare.gov

Stop your (business rules) engines! - Ad Hoc 🔗

One of the many surprising artifacts of the initial failed HealthCare.gov launch was a “business rules engine.” This was a new concept for most of the team that helped rescue the site.

The text discusses the concept of Business Rules Engines (BREs) and their application in government technology, specifically in the context of the initial HealthCare.gov launch. It outlines the value proposition of BREs in encapsulating business rules and allowing non-programmers to update software, but also highlights their complexities and limitations. The text emphasizes that the use of programming languages and modern software engineering practices can effectively address the challenges that BREs purport to solve. It uses the example of the Plan Compare application for HealthCare.gov to demonstrate the successful implementation of business rules without a BRE. Ultimately, the text advises against mandating BREs in government IT services, citing their expense, architectural complications, and lack of necessity given existing tools for encoding and verifying business rules.