After spending more than three years and hundreds of millions of dollars building and promoting the online health care marketplaces, the Obama Administration launched the new website on October 1st. Despite the raised concerns and repeated assurances by the administration it would be fully functional, very few people so far have been able to use even some of the most basic functions such as creating an account.
The administration initially claimed the problems were due to technical “glitches” and because of overwhelming demand. It is now clear the problems are much deeper. The website simply doesn’t work for the vast majority of users. In addressing the website’s ineffectiveness, the President directed users to call the toll free help line which also faced long delays and usually referred users back to the defective website. For the few users who are able to actually log on to the website, price estimates frequently are wrong, the system often misidentifies individuals, and the information sent to insurance companies many times is inaccurate.
Next week, the Committee on Ways and Means will hold a hearing on implementation of the health care law with Marilyn Tavenner, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services which oversees the operation of the exchanges. This hearing will be a good first step to identify how the administration has addressed implementation, and what is being done to correct the problems.
While we do not have all of the answers yet, the website problems have highlighted that the health care law is overly-complex, expensive, and not ready for implementation.
Third District residents have been contacting my office to share their stories and frustrations with the law and the website. The new mandates and regulations included in the law are forcing up the cost of insurance. One recent caller said her premium is set to go up about $5,000 next year with a high deductable.
Another Nebraskan e-mailed me after he was notified by his insurance company his plan would no longer be offered, and a comparable plan would cost him 110 percent more than he is currently paying. He hoped to be able to find more affordable coverage through the online exchanges, but so far has been unable to because the website cannot verify his identity. He argued, “We should not be forced to get insurance from a government that can’t run things right.”
I agree. It is not fair to penalize Americans with a tax for not buying insurance through a website which makes it nearly impossible to buy insurance. I am pleased even many Democrats have now joined Republicans in calling for a delay in the individual mandate. The administration has also agreed to extend the enrollment period before which Americans would be penalized for not having insurance. This decision is a good start but it is not enough.
We need to put the brakes on implementation of the law before more damage is done to the cost of health care and to the American economy. While I continue to favor repeal of the law, given its disastrous debut, even supporters of the law should favor a delay to identify and fix the problems. Until these serious issues are resolved, I hope all sides would be willing to alleviate and lessen the problems this law is creating for the American people.
Sincerely,
ADRIAN SMITH
Member of Congress
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