At a recent congressional hearing, White House Chief Technology Officer Todd Park seemed less than confident that HealthCare.gov would be fully functional by the end of this month, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
When asked whether the federal health insurance exchange site would be repaired by Nov. 30 as promised, Mr. Park told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee only that the site repair team is "working incredibly hard" to meet the deadline, according to the report.
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday the Obama administration believes it's on track to have the site running smoothly for most users by the end of the month.
Since its launch last month, HealthCare.gov has experienced numerous technical issues, frustrating consumers and drawing criticism from the healthcare reform law's opponents. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said her agency is working "around the clock" to fix the site.
Yesterday, HHS released enrollment figures for the site's first month, revealing only 26,794 people successfully completed applications and selected health plans through the federal health insurance exchange site from Oct. 1 to Nov. 2. An additional 79,391 people enrolled through state-based exchanges.
HHS officials have said they expect the enrollment figures will be low and will increase with time.
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