Rep. Black: Inspector General's Report on Healthcare.gov Validates Conservatives' Early Warnings
Statement
Today, Congressman Diane Black (R-TN-06), a nurse for more than 40 years and member of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, responded to the newly released Office of Inspector General's report on the early failings of Healthcare.gov. Black released the following statement:
"The findings of this report are not surprising and they validate conservatives' repeated warnings in the fall of 2013 that Healthcare.gov was not ready for primetime. What's more, the report is a grim reminder that when Washington acts on artificial timetables that ignore reality and prioritize political expediency over sound policy, taxpayers are always shortchanged in the end. The Obama Administration's decision to move forward with a broken website is the height of arrogance, particularly when we now know very clearly that they had every reason to wait until needed improvements could be made. While I hope the Administration will heed the recommendations in this report, the fact remains that Healthcare.gov is simply an extension of a deeply broken law -- something no amount of technical changes can fix," said Congressman Diane Black.
Background:
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General report, entitled "Healthcare.gov: CMS Management of the Federal Marketplace" was publicly released today. The report cited "the absence of clear leadership" from the Obama Administration, "too little time for developing the website," and "resistance to communicating and heeding warnings of "bad news,'" among the reasons for Healthcare.gov's disastrous launch. The Inspector General's report further noted that "CMS [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] has not fully implemented the Federal Marketplace automated financial management functions" on the website and adds that "CMS must continue to address technical and operational challenges" with the site's performance. To read the full report click here.
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