Healthcare.gov Website to Be Problem-Free by November, Says Obama Administration
Healthcare.gov, the website allowing Americans without insurance to sign up for federal health insurance, has been plagued with technical issues since it went live in early October. But today the government promised to have the sight running problem-free by November.
White House chief economic advisor Jeff Zients is leading the fight to fix the website and spoke with reporters Friday.
"We are confident that by the end of the November, healthcare.gov will be smooth for the vast majority of users," Zients told NBC News.
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He also spoke about how the website will get back on track.
"Over the last week we worked with a team of experts to conduct an assessment of the overall state of the healthcare.gov site. They lent 'fresh eyes' to the problems plaguing the site. The system is getting better. There is a lot of work to do but healthcare.gov is fixable," he said.
QSSI, the company that made a large part of the orginal site, is the company that will be working on fixing the site. Zients explained why the government is sticking with the same contractor.
"It makes sense for a number of reasons. They have done a good job already with the federal data hub. They have the skills and expertise to address these problems right now," the White House chief economic advisor said.
The White House did not predict the website would have so many problems. Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services Secretary explained the Obama administration's surprise.
"I didn't realize it wouldn't be operating optimally before the launch," she said while in the East Austin Health Center and witnessing people struggling to use the site.
