Obama administration denied pervasive problems with web site until they became obvious

Phillip Klein:

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Ever since the Department of Health and Human Services began building a website to help Americans access subsidized health insurance through Obamacare, the process has been shrouded in mystery.

While states building their own exchanges held regular public meetings to work through problems that arose over the course of this year, the federal system was largely a black box.

As evidence trickled out that HHS was encountering technological problems, officials repeatedly said the exchange was on track to be ready on Oct. 1.

In June, for instance, when a Government Accountability Office report warned that development of the exchange was behind schedule, HHS officials responded with a statement insisting they were "extremely confident that on Oct. 1 the marketplace will be open on schedule and millions of Americans will have access to affordable quality health insurance."

On Monday, Obama himself held a White House event for acknowledging that the website Healthcare.gov did not live up to his promises, and he was forced to point Americans seeking to enroll in health insurance to a 1-800 number.

But, though his administration has promised a “tech surge” to deal with the site's problems, the details on that surge are rather scant.

It’s unclear how much it will cost, who exactly is involved and what specific issues the new team of experts will be seeking to resolve. Nor are there any timelines or metrics for success.

More than three weeks in, the administration has not released numbers on how many people have been able to successfully enroll through Healthcare.gov.

All along, Obama has been driven by fear of ridicule from Republicans if any evidence was released of problems facing his signature legislation. And this fear has gotten in the way of building a functioning system.

“My sense is that the biggest reason Obamacare is now in trouble is because of the top-secret way in which the administration has handled the rollout,” health care consultant Bob Laszewski wrote on his blog.
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Other reports suggest he ignored the problems because he did not want to admit the Republicans were right about the need for a delay on the individual mandate, but events have proven that a delay was needed anyway.   The 800 numbers is just an added fiasco where callers are referred to the website that is still not working.  The events are adding to the aura of incompetence that now surrounds this administration and its signature program.