The Obama Administration has called in computer experts to rectify technical issues plaguing the Affordable Care Act's online health insurance marketplace.
The administration has enlisted computer experts from the government and private companies to help rewrite computer code and make other improvements to the online marketplace, which opened three weeks ago, according to The Washington Post. The technical difficulties have been hindering consumers from participating in the online exchange.
The new team of troubleshooters has come up with new ways to figure out which aspects of the federal website, HealthCare.gov, are having problems. The site has also been taken offline for a number of overnight tests, according to a Department of Health and Human Services spokesman.
HHS officials acknowledged the site's difficulties in a blog post on Sunday: "Unfortunately, the experience on HealthCare.gov has been frustrating for many Americans." For the first time, the administration asked the consumers in three dozen states who are participating in the federal exchange to report their interactions with the site, both good and bad.
President Obama will address the site's issues at a White House event Monday about the 2010 law.
"I think that there's no one more frustrated than the president at the difficulty in the Web site," Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Lew's remarks and Obama's anticipated comments underscores a shift for the administration, which has repeatedly said they will not say publicly what is wrong with the site or what is being done to rectify the site's issues. The new strategy allows officials to appear more sympathetic toward frustrated consumers.
Yet, administration officials are still unwilling to disclose details about efforts to fix the site's weak spots. They did not say how many experts are on the team, when they will begin working or when the site's flaws will be rectified. But officials did say that the problems extend beyond simple usability issues, such as problems with setting up a personal account.
Officials at the White House and the HHS previously said that the site's problems stemmed from the sheer volume of people trying to get onto the site simultaneously. However, consumers, insurance companies and health policy experts have noticed problems that extend far beyond the number of people accessing the site. The site sometimes gives inaccurate information about the federal tax credits that will help individuals pay for a health plan. Sometimes, it also erroneously tells low-income people that they are not eligible for Medicaid when they actually are.
The exchange is also having issues with dealing with applications from people who are offered health insurance coverage through their employers, but can find better or less expensive health coverage through the marketplace exchange. Although the exchange is primarily designed for Americans without access to employer-sponsored health insurance, the exchange can also be used by individuals whose employer-covered health insurance is lacking or prohibitively expensive.
Insurers have also complained that they are getting confusing information about who has signed up. The exchange often generates data that suggests that one person has had a number of enrollments and cancellations on the same day.
On the site, people have to first submit information to determine if they qualify for federal subsidies. After the applications are accepted, they can then shop for health plans in their areas.
The administration is being more forthcoming about the usability issues due to both practical and political issues. Practically, the flaws in the site raises concerns that healthy people, who are crucial to the financial stability of the insurance marketplace, may be deterred from signing up. The administration also wants to fix the bugs to dismiss criticisms from congressional Republicans, who have been trying to undermine the Affordable Care Act since its enactment in 2010. Republicans are even calling for the dismissal of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
The administration has not released specific data on how many have enrolled through the federal exchange; officials will disclose figures in November. The HHS spokesman said that as of Saturday, 19 million people had looked at the exchange since it opened on Oct. 1.