I’ll admit it. I’m an idealist. And a computer nerd. Put the two together, and I have this crazy vision that technology will fix all our problems. The logic of “computers everywhere” kind of breaks down when you start to realize that CPUs aren’t edible, that bandwidth can’t fight disease, and that wireless won’t end suffering. But still, when I come up with ideas to try to improve something or make it easier, it usually involves a website or a computer. It’s a tribute to my own ego and self-centeredness that I even have these foolish illusions of digital grandeur; if most of my classmates don’t even embrace technology as much as I do, how can I expect anyone else to do the same?

In our health policy class, we were discussing the confusing navigation of health insurance services and the income cut-offs (such that your age, your child’s age, and your income can determine whether you qualify for Medicaid, known as “MediCal” here, or CHIP insurance, known as “Healthy Families” here). So I thought it’d be useful to have at least some sort of simple way to collect a state or county’s information, and put it together in some sort of super user-friendly system. Something like the Jellyvision Interactive Conversation Interface (iCi), except it’d spit out data about what you qualify for, where to go get it, what you’ll need to bring with you, etc. If you’ve never checked out these demos, they’re pretty fun, funny, and very simple and navigable. Need to think it through a little more and talk with some of the SUMMIT education folks, but I feel like it could be a simple, useful tool. Any comments? Anywhere I’m missing a major gap?

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