Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner (pictured right) testified Tuesday on Capitol Hill about problems plaguing the rollout of HealthCare.gov, the Washington Post reports.
In her testimony, Tavenner said CMS plans to release information on who has signed up for state and federal exchanges, noting the federal government aimed to have 800,000 enrollees by the end of November. Like President Obama, Tavenner urged patience with the exchange site, and said improvements were being made and she expects the site to be running smoothly by the end of the month, according to the Post.
"I would encourage folks who have not been on the Web site in the last few days to please go on the Web site," Tavenner told a Senate panel. "It has improved."
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) warned that the site's glitches, in combination with "rate shock" and policy cancellations, could create a "crisis of confidence" regarding the healthcare law and discourage people from enrolling in exchanges, according to the Post.
"I'm going to be blunt, because I really want this to be a success," Mikulski said, according to the National Journal. "I think it's very confusing about where you go. People don't know. They really, really don't know."
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said the problems with the site were not his biggiest worries. "What I'm more concerned about are the canceled policies and the inability of people to have time to replace their policies prior to Jan. 1," Alexander said.
Tavenner also said security issues with the site, such as a report about a North Carolina man receiving a notice of eligibility for subsidies addressed to someone else, have been fixed, according to the Post.
To learn more:
- here's the Post article
- read the Journal article