Former White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley has told CBS News the error-ridden rollout of the healthcare reform law's insurance exchanges is a "big embarrassment" and will result in substantial political fallout for the Obama administration.
Mr. Daley said the bottom line is federal officials must remedy the errors and get the exchanges operating smoothly.
Regarding the growing number of Republicans calling for HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to step down, he compared asking her to resign to "firing Captain Smith of the Titanic after it hit the iceberg."
Since HealthCare.gov launched earlier this month, the site has experienced numerous technical issues such as roken drop-down menus and frequent crashes. HHS has acknowledged serious design flaws throughout the site, and the agency has announced a "tech surge" led by experts and specialists from inside and outside the government to fix the errors.
The glitches have drawn criticism from opponents of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, with Republicans pointing to the bumpy launch as evidence of the law's poor design. Lawmakers such as Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) have called for Secretary Sebelius to resign, but she reportedly has no intention of leaving, and the Obama administration has expressed full confidence in her.
She plans to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee next week concerning the technical difficulties the healthcare law's rollout has encountered, although she will not attend the committee's hearing tomorrow concerning the "troubled" launch.
More Articles on PPACA Implementation:
HHS Calls in Tech Experts to Fix HealthCare.gov
Obama Acknowledges Technical Issues, Defends PPACA
Rep. Paul Ryan Joins Republicans Calling for Sebelius to Resign