Sebelius Testifies Before the House Energy and Commerce Committee: Have the “Glitches” Influenced your Perception of Health Care Reform?

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a disruptor in her own right, testified during what can easily be classified as a grueling hearing today concerning the widely experienced glitches of the online insurance marketplace exchange, HealthCare.gov.
Upon addressing the committee, Sebelius noted that she was as “frustrated as anyone with the failure of the system” and took full accountability.  The website was ironically down during her testimony.
While the hearing was originally slated to address only the failures of Healthcare.gov, Sebelius also faced questions concerning the fate of grandfathered health care plans, the cost of health care to small businesses, and privacy concerns amongst other issues.
Sebelius ensured that the site would be up and running by November 30th and that HHS was working steadfast with outside contractors. She noted that there had already been some improvements; consumers were now able to filter plans in minutes not hours and were getting fewer error messages. She further stated that there was a plan in place to address key outstanding issues, like fixing bugs in software and refreshing the user experience. Sebelius confirmed that by the end of November, the “vast majority” of consumers would be able to shop for insurance online.
However these gains, as important as they may be, were not enough to satiate the committee. Members pressed Sebelius on the total cost of the site which was quoted at an estimated $118 million...

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - October 30, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Access Consumer Health Care Health Reform Insurance Source Type: blogs