The Subcommittee on Health, chaired by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday, July 16, 2014, at 10:15 a.m. in room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled “Failure to Verify: Concerns Regarding PPACA’s Eligibility System." Representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS OIG) will testify.
“Sadly, nine months after launch, broken promises and technological glitches continue to define the president’s health care law. The extent of the administration’s malpractice in launching the exchange without a complete back end system is beyond belief, and now millions of inconsistencies remain unresolved as a result," said Pitts. “Recent reports from the administration’s own watchdog underscore the gross incompetence in implementing its signature law."
The HHS OIG recently released two reports regarding the “inconsistencies" in Obamacare applications on the federally facilitated marketplace. The reports found that through February 2014, there were 2.9 million inconsistencies, 2.6 million of which had yet to be addressed. The Energy and Commerce Committee learned that the number of inconsistencies grew to at least 4 million as of May 27. The HHS OIG also found that the administration did not have effective controls in place to perform basic tasks, such as validating Social Security numbers, performing identity proofing, and verifying citizenship and other sources of coverage. Subcommittee members will discuss these most recent reports and other work underway by the HHS OIG regarding the administration’s implementation failures.as they are posted.
