WASHINGTON: A nonpartisan congressional investigation has concluded that management failures by the Obama administration set the stage for the crippling computer woes that paralyzed the rollout of President Barack Obama’s health care program last year, officials said.
The findings are in a report released by the Government Accountability Office, which has spent months investigating the chaotic rollout of Obama’s signature program and its website. GAO is the nonpartisan investigative agency of Congress.
Republicans have hammered at the president over the program known as Obamacare and hope to capitalize on its problems in the November congressional elections.
Obama has already survived the worst fallout from the bungled launch of the program, so the report is unlikely to create major political problems for the White House and Democrats generally.
But it does shine light on what was going on behind the scenes even as administration officials fostered the impression that signing for health care would be simple, like shopping online.
Obama’s political operatives harnessed technology to help him win a second term in the White House, but his staff has had its troubles with administrative details.
The administration concurs with most of the findings, agreeing that the initial performance of HealthCare.gov was unacceptable. But officials say that things have come a long way since then.
The health law, passed in 2010, is intended to extend insurance coverage to millions of Americans who had lacked it.
Republicans have long opposed the law, particularly its requirement for Americans to carry insurance or face penalties. Investigators found that the administration kept changing the contractors’ marching orders for the HealthCare.gov website, creating widespread confusion and leading to tens of millions of dollars in additional costs.
Republican and Democratic congressional aides briefed on the report told the AP that it faults the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services for ineffective oversight of contracts for the site’s computerized sign-up system and its electronic back office. -AP
