The federal health insurance exchange website, HealthCare.gov, wasn't adequately tested before its launch, private contractors from several IT companies tasked with building the site told House lawmakers yesterday.
CGI Federal Senior Vice President Cheryl Campbell, Optum/QSSI Group Executive Vice President Andrew Slavitt, Equifax Workforce Solutions Corporate Counsel Lynn Spellecy and Serco Program Director John Lau testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee concerning the healthcare reform law's glitch-ridden rollout.
The contractors told committee members full tests of the website began just two weeks before its rollout, according to a report from The Washington Post. Ms. Campbell told lawmakers CGI Federal — which handled most of the project — did not make the decision to go live. CMS is the ultimate responsible party for the end-to-end performance of the federal exchange, according to Ms. Campbell's testimony.
Julie Bataille, director of the CMS office of communications, told reporters the system "just wasn't tested enough" due to a compressed time frame, according to the report. Ms. Bataille said the agency is implementing a more rigorous testing process.
Numerous glitches have cropped up since the exchanges opened for enrollment earlier this month, with people not being able to create accounts on HealthCare.gov, dysfunctional drop down tools and the federal exchange site crashing due to high traffic have surfaced since the exchanges launched. HHS has announced a "tech surge" led by experts and specialists from both inside and outside the government to resolve the errors
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