The Obama Administration’s Blatant Incompetence

In the months leading up to HealthCare.gov’s launch, Obama Administration officials claimed that the Obamacare exchanges would be tested, secure, and ready to start enrolling people on October 1. Despite repeated warnings that the Federal Data Hub and other website components were not ready for primetime, the Obama Administration insisted it was “on track.”

Just 19 days before the exchanges went live, the Administration’s Chief Technology Officer, Todd Park, declared that HealthCare.gov “is built and ready for operation, and we have completed security testing and certification to operate.” Even President Obama claimed he was not aware of the problem. Last Friday, at a press conference, he said, “I was not informed directly that the website would not be working the way it was supposed to.”

The facts simply do not support the Administration’s claims. Bureaucratic mismanagement, gross incompetence, and calculated deception have come to define the Administration’s disastrous Obamacare roll-out.

• CMS Memo Warned Website Was a “High Risk” Security Threat. An internal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) memo – dated four days before HealthCare.gov went live – shows that Administration officials knew the website contained “inherent security risks.”

• Administration Failed to Conduct Website Security Tests Before Launch. According to one report, “key tests to ensure the security and privacy of customer information on the troubled Obamacare website fell behind schedule. A deadline for final security plans was delayed three times over the summer, and final top-to-bottom security tests never were finished before the launch.”

• Senior CMS Official Warned Website Faced “Limitless” Security Risks. A September 3 memo, written by then-CMS Chief Information Officer Tony Trenkle, outlines six specific security concerns with the exchange. Two concerns summarized in the memo were described as “high findings” and therefore redacted from media reports due to security reasons. Henry Chao, the CMS Deputy Chief Information Officer who cleared HealthCare.gov to launch on October 1, told House Oversight Committee staff that he never saw the Trenkle memo. Chao found it “disturbing” that he had not seen the memo.

• Report Proves White House and HHS Officials Knew About Website Issues. The Obama Administration hired McKinsey & Co. to assess HealthCare.gov’s progress. In March 2013, McKinsey delivered its findings to senior White House and HHS officials in four separate briefings. McKinsey warned that the website’s October 1 launch plan faced significant problems, including: requirements changing multiple times during the website’s design; failure to provide sufficient time to complete end-to-end testing; and failure to appoint a “single empowered decision-making authority.” Because the Administration did not appoint one Obamacare project leader, contractors got “conflicting directions between the various entities within CMS.” Henry Chao testified that he never saw the McKinsey assessment.

• Up to 40 Percent of HealthCare.gov Still Isn’t Built Yet. Testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week, Chao also acknowledged that 30 to 40 percent of the IT systems needed to make HealthCare.gov work haven’t even been built yet. This includes financial management tools like accounting and insurance company payment systems. In order for insurers to enroll people in the correct plans, a process known as reconciliation, CMS must have the insurer payment system in place. One industry expert said if people are signing up, but the “back end systems are not working, their coverage could ultimately be disrupted. They may think they’re enrolled in a plan and they’re not.”

It is clear now that the Obama Administration knew as early as April that HealthCare.gov’s implementation was nowhere near “on track.” Instead of being straightforward, they subjected millions of Americans to what 63 percent describe as a negative experience trying to sign up for government mandated health insurance. Secretary Sebelius’ reaction yesterday was simply, “clearly that was a bad call.”

Health Care Headlines

Reuters: “Some cyber security experts recommend shutting Obamacare site” President Barack Obama's HealthCare.gov site is riddled with security flaws that put user data of millions of people at risk and it should be shut down until fixed, several technology experts warned lawmakers on Tuesday.

Washington Post: “Private consultants warned of risks before HealthCare.gov’s Oct. 1 launch” The Obama Administration brought in a private consulting team to independently assess how the federal online health insurance enrollment system was developing, according to a newly disclosed document, and in late March received a clear warning that its Oct. 1 launch was fraught with risks.

Politico: “Tech chief: Up to 40% of Obamacare work left” A key player in the Obamacare website’s creation acknowledged Tuesday that up to 40 percent of IT systems supporting the exchange still need to be built.

Kaiser Health News: “Doctors Complain They Will Be Paid Less By Exchange Plans” Many doctors are disturbed they will be paid less – often a lot less – to care for the millions of patients projected to buy coverage through the health law’s new insurance marketplaces. Insurance officials say physicians will make up for the lower pay by seeing more patients, since the plans tend to have smaller networks of doctors. But many primary care doctors say they barely have time to take care of the patients they have now.

Associated Press: “Limited patient choice next health overall issue” After they get the website fixed, then what? Keeping your doctors and hospitals may be the next vexing challenge for Americans in the new health plans created by President Barack Obama's law. Obama promised people could keep their doctors. But in many states the new plans appear to offer a narrow choice of hospitals and doctors.