Hearken back to last year when the roll-out of the HealthCare.Gov website fell flat on its face from day one. There was so much of the $600 million website that was not completed. Millions more were spent to ‘fix’ the problems. Obama got a crack team on it.
Well guess what? According to the HHS Inspector General’s office, the system still lacks the ability to verify whether applicants are eligible.
The federal health exchange was unable to resolve 2.6 million out of 2.9 million data inconsistencies on insurance applications through December 2013 because the eligibility system didn’t work, according to one of two inspector general reports released Tuesday.
The highlights from the HHS IG’s office . . .
- The internal controls were not effective for validating Social Security numbers and citizenship at the Federal marketplace.
- The Federal and California marketplaces did not always resolve inconsistencies in eligibility data, and the Connecticut marketplace did not always properly determine eligibility for insurance affordability programs.
- These deficiencies occurred because (1) the marketplaces did not have procedures or did not follow existing procedures to ensure that applicants were enrolled in QHPs according to Federal requirements or (2) the marketplaces’ eligibility or enrollment systems had defects or lacked functionality. For example, the Federal marketplace’s system functionality to resolve inconsistencies in eligibility data had not been fully developed.
The network radio news swerved from the numbers to generalities from 8am to Noon. Starting with pull quotes of “The federal health exchange was unable to resolve 2.6 million out of 2.9 million data inconsistencies on insurance applications.” Inconsistencies like verifying identity and citizenship. And ending with “the Office of Inspector General recommends that HHS take action to improve internal controls.”
Words not mentioned in any news broadcast were “Obamacare,” the “Affordable Care Act,” “HealthCare.Gov,” President Obama, or Kathleen Sibelius.
Related Links:
- October 4, 2013: 99% of Obamacare applications hit a wall
- June 3, 2014: How Website Woes Foiled Obamacare a Second Time
- July 1, 2014: Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General Audit (A-09-14-01000)
- July 1, 2014: Reports Fault Controls of Health Exchanges
