What Went Wrong with HealthCare.Gov?

Even though the Administration had three years to prepare for the launch of the government website where millions of Americans will be compelled to buy health insurance under ObamaCare, HealthCare.gov has been “live” for almost a month and there seems to be no end in sight to its problems. Since October 1, Americans have run into widespread amounts of glitches and error messages on the site, and millions have been unable to sign up as was advertised. It’s clear the online rollout of HealthCare.gov is a #fail. Not only did the Administration have more than enough time to prepare – but a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that the cost to launch HealthCare.gov was approximately $350 MILLION… FAR exceeding the initial estimate given by the Obama Administration.

This week, President Obama pinned the blame for the troubled site on the contractors who designed and implemented it. While it looks to me that the President may be trying to throw these companies under the bus (what I consider his Administration’s latest attempt to evade accountability for its failures), I have a responsibility as a “watchdog” on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch and to investigate when things go wrong to ensure it doesn't happen again. It’s our job as members of the Oversight Committee to get to the bottom of it.

We’re working on it. My fellow leaders on the Oversight Committee, and I sent letters to the website contractors responsible for HealthCare.gov, seeking answers on what happened. Among the information we’re requesting is all documented communications between the companies and the Administration about the website. Surely, in the last three years, someone had to be aware of the major problems with HealthCare.gov and the potential impact these problems could have on the millions of Americans expected to enroll. We’re pushing for this answer and others as we work to uncover the truth on why - after three years and more than $300 million dollars – the Obamacare website wasn’t ready for the millions of Americans it anticipated to enroll. Stay tuned.

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