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Sebelius will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee as part of a series of House hearings into the website and issues related to the 2010 Affordable Care Act. No doubt Republicans will also continue to call for her immediate firing for the botched launch of the site, as they remain committed to dismantling President Obama’s signature health care initiative at all costs.
Secretary Sebelius has taken an optimistic stance, while trying to defend herself from becoming the “fall guy” for the site’s woes.
“Over the past few weeks, millions of Americans have visited HealthCare.gov to look at their new health coverage options under the Affordable Care Act,” Sebelius said. “By enlisting additional technical help, aggressively monitoring errors, testing to prevent new issues from cropping up, and regularly deploying fixes to the site, we are working to ensure consumers’ interaction with HealthCare.gov is a positive one, and that the Affordable Care Act fully delivers on its promise,” she added.
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| Marilyn Tavenner |
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However, one administration official accepted blame. “I want to apologize to you that the website is not working as well as it should,” Marilyn Tavenner, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told the House Ways and Means Committee. She is the highest-level official to issue such a direct apology. “I want to assure you that HealthCare.gov can be fixed, and we are working around the clock to give you the experience that you deserve.”
Tavenner also singled out CGI Federal as the only HealthCare.gov contractor that failed to meet expectations, saying it had “some issues with timely delivery.” CGI has fought back, blaming the administration’s October 1st deadline “by any means necessary” as the culprit.
House Democrats have begun to openly worry about problems with the rollout. Rep. Richard Nolan of Minnesota told The Associated Press the computer fiasco has “damaged the brand” of the health care law.
“The president needs to man up, find out who was responsible, and fire them,” Nolan said. Other Democrats are calling for signup deadlines to be extended and a reconsideration of the penalties individuals will face next year if they remain uninsured.
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As of now, the administration seems to be playing the blame-game while trying to put the best spin possible on the fixes that are coming. If President Obama truly wants to regain control of his signature health care plan, he may be best served by holding someone accountable and firing them immediately, shutting down the troubled website, then allowing some of the best tech experts in the country to rebuild it from scratch and make it the best it can possibly be. Otherwise, the GOP will continue to say “See, I told you so” in their plan to ruin or possibly put an end to Obamacare.
I can't wait to see what she says in this hearing. You're right DJ somebody needs to get fired. I hope they get it together soon though.