WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) sent letters to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), calling on the agencies’ leaders to review the significant technical difficulties for consumers navigating the HealthCare.gov and Medicare.gov websites, and requesting the HHS independent watchdog review the management of the relevant contracts. In his letter to HHS Acting Inspector General Joanne Chiedi, Chairman Neal asserted that recent technological failures suggest that the management of the HealthCare.gov and Medicare.gov websites and the conduct of the relevant contractors require further attention. Twenty-three Ways and Means Committee Democrats joined Chairman Neal on his letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS Administrator Seema Verma regarding HealthCare.gov glitches that occurred during the current open enrollment period, most notably on the last day to sign up for marketplace plans with coverage effective Jan. 1, 2020.
“Various complaints indicate that the recently overhauled Medicare Plan Finder is confusing, generated incorrect results, and inadvertently led beneficiaries to select plans with lower premiums but higher overall costs," said Chairman Neal in his letter to Acting Inspector General Chiedi. Referencing the technical problems that occurred this past weekend on HealthCare.gov, Neal pointed out that the “final days of open enrollment are the busiest, and as such it as of the utmost importance for the website to be operating smoothly for individuals seeking to enroll at that time. Consumers should not end up in the wrong plan or be blocked from even signing up due to mismanagement of major government websites. Therefore, I ask that you conduct a review regarding the ongoing management of contracts related to enrollment through HealthCare.gov and comparison through the Medicare Plan Finder."
Specifically, Neal requested the review include:
1. The process involved in awarding new contracts to manage HealthCare.gov enrollment and the Medicare Plan Finder redesign;
2. The number of and nature of contracts awarded to manage HealthCare.gov enrollment and the Medicare Plan Finder redesign;
3. Agency oversight regarding the relevant HealthCare.gov and Medicare Plan Finder contractors; and
4. Internal agency documents, such as management reports, corrective action strategies, and internal correspondence concerning the responses to the problems identified in this letter.
In their letter to Secretary Azar and Administrator Verma, Neal and his colleagues asserted that the most recent HealthCare.gov glitches “could prevent roughly 100,000 people from signing up for quality affordable coverage." They added that, “The response by agency leadership has been insufficient to date, although a short extension of the open enrollment deadline is appreciated. More than six years after HealthCare.gov opened for business, operations should be running far more smoothly." The members urged the agencies to “act swiftly to prevent consumers from being harmed as a result of these website failures and implement broader information technology improvements to avoid such problems from recurring in future years."
