For people who have been following the story closely, itâs been clear for months that Obamacareâs exchanges were not ready to go live on October 1, and that their implementation needed to be delayed. The Obama administration insisted otherwise, claiming that everything was hunky-dory, and that reports to the contrary were simply the work of partisan saboteurs. But earlier this week, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted the truth. âWe didnât have enough testingâ¦for a very complicated project,â she conceded to the Wall Street Journal. The exchanges needed five years of construction and one year of testing, and instead had only âtwo years [of construction] and almost no testing.â That leaves us with an obvious question: Why, then, did Sebelius insist on rolling out the exchanges four years ahead of time?
White House forced CMS to go forward despite concerns
The answer may be that she was under direct instructions from the White House. According to a letter sent to White House officials by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, CGI Federalâone of the key contractors involved in the projectâsaid that officials with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the government agency tasked with running the exchanges, âconstantly mentioned the âWhite Houseâ when discussing matters with CGI. For example, CGI officials told Committee staff that the ability to shop for health insurance without registering for an accountâa central design feature of the health insurance exchangeâwas removed âin late August or early September.ââ
Back in January, CGI representatives told the committee that they didnât think that âthe website would be operational before the October 1, 2013 deadlineâ because there was a âlack of coordination and an abundance of confusion between stakeholders involved in setting up the website,â and felt that they needed âmore direction on âbudgetary and project governance.ââ
Testing of website only began 5 days before launch
Lena Sun and Scott Wilson of the Washington Post report that before the exchanges were set to launch, CMS invited a group of health insurers to knock the tires of the website. âAbout a month before the exchange opened, this testing group urged agency officials not to launch it nationwide because it was still riddled with problems, according to an insurance IT executive who was close to the rollout. âWe discussedâ¦is there a way to do a pilotâby state, by geographic region?â the executive said.â
Incredibly, by September 26âfive days before the website was set to launchâthere had not been a single test as to whether or not an individual could âcomplete the [enrollment] process from beginning to end: create an account, determine eligibility for federal subsidies and sign up for a health insurance plan, according to two sources familiar with the project.â
They finally did test the website after September 26. âIt crashed after a simulation in which just a few hundred people tried to log on simultaneously.â This is a website, remember, that is supposed to eventually serve more than 15 million people.
Who made the call to launch on Oct. 1 despite the problems?
So, Kathleen Sebelius now says that the site needed a year of testing, but she only had five days. So what happened?
Congressional Republicans have been trying for quite some time to get Sebelius up to the Hill to respond to concerns that the exchanges werenât ready. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wisc.) notes that, since August, he has asked Sebelius on four occasionsâAugust 15, August 22, September 10, and October 22âto testify or provide information as to the exchangesâ progress. He has been rebuffed each time. âThe American people have a right to know how HHS is spending their money,â says Ryan.
It does now appear that Marilyn Tavenner, head of CMS, will testify before the House Ways & Means Committee on October 29. Sebelius, it looks like, will do the same before the House Energy & Commerce Committee on October 30.
Hereâs what Congress needs to know. Was it Sebeliusâ decision to plow ahead, despite the fact that the site couldnât handle the traffic? Or did she recommend a delay to the President, only to have President Obama demand that she launch the website on October 1 regardless of the problems? And why is Sebelius only now admitting that the website needed six years of development instead of two?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapot...eded-six-years-of-development-instead-of-two/
White House forced CMS to go forward despite concerns
The answer may be that she was under direct instructions from the White House. According to a letter sent to White House officials by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, CGI Federalâone of the key contractors involved in the projectâsaid that officials with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the government agency tasked with running the exchanges, âconstantly mentioned the âWhite Houseâ when discussing matters with CGI. For example, CGI officials told Committee staff that the ability to shop for health insurance without registering for an accountâa central design feature of the health insurance exchangeâwas removed âin late August or early September.ââ
Back in January, CGI representatives told the committee that they didnât think that âthe website would be operational before the October 1, 2013 deadlineâ because there was a âlack of coordination and an abundance of confusion between stakeholders involved in setting up the website,â and felt that they needed âmore direction on âbudgetary and project governance.ââ
Testing of website only began 5 days before launch
Lena Sun and Scott Wilson of the Washington Post report that before the exchanges were set to launch, CMS invited a group of health insurers to knock the tires of the website. âAbout a month before the exchange opened, this testing group urged agency officials not to launch it nationwide because it was still riddled with problems, according to an insurance IT executive who was close to the rollout. âWe discussedâ¦is there a way to do a pilotâby state, by geographic region?â the executive said.â
Incredibly, by September 26âfive days before the website was set to launchâthere had not been a single test as to whether or not an individual could âcomplete the [enrollment] process from beginning to end: create an account, determine eligibility for federal subsidies and sign up for a health insurance plan, according to two sources familiar with the project.â
They finally did test the website after September 26. âIt crashed after a simulation in which just a few hundred people tried to log on simultaneously.â This is a website, remember, that is supposed to eventually serve more than 15 million people.
Who made the call to launch on Oct. 1 despite the problems?
So, Kathleen Sebelius now says that the site needed a year of testing, but she only had five days. So what happened?
Congressional Republicans have been trying for quite some time to get Sebelius up to the Hill to respond to concerns that the exchanges werenât ready. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wisc.) notes that, since August, he has asked Sebelius on four occasionsâAugust 15, August 22, September 10, and October 22âto testify or provide information as to the exchangesâ progress. He has been rebuffed each time. âThe American people have a right to know how HHS is spending their money,â says Ryan.
It does now appear that Marilyn Tavenner, head of CMS, will testify before the House Ways & Means Committee on October 29. Sebelius, it looks like, will do the same before the House Energy & Commerce Committee on October 30.
Hereâs what Congress needs to know. Was it Sebeliusâ decision to plow ahead, despite the fact that the site couldnât handle the traffic? Or did she recommend a delay to the President, only to have President Obama demand that she launch the website on October 1 regardless of the problems? And why is Sebelius only now admitting that the website needed six years of development instead of two?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapot...eded-six-years-of-development-instead-of-two/
