Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) recently sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius seeking to learn if HealthCare.gov was tested prior to its launch.
The letter, which was also signed by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) and Reps. Steve Scalise (R-La.), John Fleming (R-La.) and Charles Boustany (R-La.), also inquires as to how many Louisianans and Americans have enrolled with the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
“Louisiana families would like to know why this site, costing millions upon millions of tax dollars, doesn’t work,” Cassidy said. “This is the minimum level of transparency that should be given. It’s not too much to ask for.”
Scalise said that the website’s technological problems are not just a glitch but a “$500+ million national embarrassment,” adding that top agency officials should be held accountable for the site’s failure after three years of preparation.
“If the CEO of a major company had 3.5 years to prepare for the launch of the company’s signature product, and it launched with a resounding thud, that CEO would surely be fired,” Fleming said. “Sec. Sebelius must explain how hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars could be spent on a website that is an utter failure, and possibly even a security risk. She had to know that benchmarks were not met and that the launch would not go well. Before the administration pours millions more into the bottomless pit of its so-called tech surge, the Secretary needs to face the American people and explain how and why this mess happened.”