The woman who sits at the helm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently told the U.S. Congress that she was sorry for the flawed launch of the health care exchange that went live on Oct 1.
In three-and-a-half hours of testimony, Kathleen Sebelius told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that, ultimately, she's the one who should take the blame for the technical glitches that have resulted at Healthcare.gov and other state-based insurance marketplace websites.
"Hold me accountable for the debacle," said Sebelius. "I'm responsible."
She noted that when the health care exchanges open for enrollment at the start of the month, everyone within HHS believed that the website would be up and running and would not have any issues. That turned out not to be the case.
"No one anticipated this level of problems," the former governor of Kansas said. "No one indicated that this could possibly go this wrong."
In recent days, representatives at the White House have said that the Healthcare.gov website is being worked on and any troubles that people are experiencing should be rectified no later than Nov. 30. Sebelius mentioned this during her sworn testimony as well, multiple media outlets reported.
Meanwhile, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch recently informed fellow member of the Senate that the technical glitches of the federal exchange website won't resolve the fact that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is an inherently flawed piece of legislation and ought to be repealed.
As more and more Americans lose their health coverage – coverage they shopped for and liked – and face outlandish costs as a result of the law, I believe that position will eventually be vindicated.
Though most employee benefit packages have been unaffected, the essential health benefits provision of the ACA has led to some insurers canceling private plans because as they exist, they don't comply with the health care reform law.
