U.S. Health and Human Services Sectretary Kathleen Sebelius faced a grilling on Capitol Hill Wednesday over the technical failures plaguing the rollout of the new healthcare law. Testifying before a House panel, Sebelius said the government has spent $118 million on healthcare.gov and $56 million more on tech support. Sebelius did not provide firm numbers on how many people have actually been able to enroll but acknowledged that “given our flawed launch … it will be a very small number.” She apologized for the delays.
Kathleen Sebelius: “I am as frustrated and angry as anyone with the flawed launch of healthcare.gov. So let me say directly to these Americans: You deserve better. I apologize. I am accountable to you for fixing these problems, and I am committed to earning your confidence back by fixing the site. We’re working day and night and will continue until it’s fixed.”
Sebelius also faced questions over an internal government memo obtained by the Associated Press, which shows administration officials expressed concern about a “high” security risk on the site due to a lack of sufficient testing. The memo is dated September 27, just four days before the site went live. Sebelius said the website is secure. She also expressed confidence healthcare.gov will be “optimally functional” by November 30, two months after its launch.