Obamacare accountability questions mount for White House

More than six weeks after the botched launch of Obamacare’s public exchanges, President Obama has taken few concrete steps to offer the accountability demanded by both critics and supporters of the health care law.

The president delivered his most extensive mea culpa last week in response to his unshakable Obamacare woes, saying the problem-ridden healthcare.gov website and uproar surrounding his broken promise that all Americans could keep their insurance coverage were “on me.”

But in acknowledging the “fumbled” rollout, the president has offered prescriptions that come with major caveats, hardly deterring criticisms for bungling the most comprehensive overhaul to the health care system since Medicare.

Obama and his top surrogates say the federal Obamacare website will work smoothly for the “vast majority” of users by the end of the month.

But the administration now concedes the overarching goal is that healthcare.gov works for 80 percent of those trying to enroll in health exchanges, meaning millions of Americans will encounter problems after the White House's self-imposed deadline.

Despite the disastrous rollout for Obama's signature domestic achievement, administration officials responsible for building and overseeing the online marketplaces have received little more than a public scolding.

Even Democrats have questioned why no heads have rolled — and the White House says not to expect “personnel decisions” as long as administration officials are focused on fixing healthcare.gov.

Also, complying with the president's so-called “fix” for the millions of Americans losing health care plans not meeting Obamacare standards is voluntary for insurers. Insurance companies have roundly dismissed the White House framework, likely declining to extend for another year the cancelled health plans in question.


http://washingtonexaminer.com/obamacare-accountability-questions-mount-for-white-house/article/2539356