Email Shows Feds Knew ACA Online Exchange Was Bust Before Shutdown

Henry Chao, Deputy Chief Information Officer and Deputy Director of the Office of Information Services testifies before the Energy & Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee November 19, 2013 in Washington. (M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO)

Emails released by House Republicans show officials knew in August the un-ACA online exchange handling small businesses would have to be delayed, raising a number of startling questions.

The administration knew that the site wasn’t functioning for small businesses or individuals, yet the administration did not announce the delay until shortly before the October 1 launch, which was also before the partial government shutdown that only occurred when Republicans led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) argued the law was a “train wreck.”

“As the paper trail broadens, we see more and more evidence that the administration was fully aware its signature health care law was not ready for prime time,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) said. “The documents we are now reviewing tell a much, much different story than what officials testified to Congress.”

One of the officials to which Chairman Upton is referring is mentioned in one of the emails, as well. In an email an official mentioned that fellow-colleague Chiquita Brooks-Lasure, who is a deputy policy director at CMS, had previously testified before the House Small Business Committee that the SHOP functions would indeed go live in October 1.

However, emails from July 26 and Aug. 13 show a clear contradiction and a clear understanding by officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that CGI Federal, who is the largest recipient of ObamaCare-related contracts and the private contractor in charge of SHOP, would not be able to complete the site on time.

(Also Read: Updated Study Of ObamaCare Website Cost Is Mind-Blowing)

Leaders at CGI Federal, one of which is senior vice president Toni Townes-Whitley, who also happens to be a Princeton University classmate of first lady Michelle Obama and a political donor for the president, promised on August 13 that the program’s main components would be ready on November 1 and 15, requiring CMS to announce a delay of 1 month and 6 weeks, respectively.

“The emails in question are between a small group of individuals involved in a broader decision-making process, and they reflect one piece of many conversations about managing deliverables and communicating expectations,” the spokesman said in a statement.

“The final decision to delay SHOP enrollment functions was not made until mid-September, and CMS announced the delay once we had complete information about what functionality would be available for small business owners on Oct. 1st.”

CMS announced the latest SHOP delay on Nov. 27, arguing that it resulted from the administration’s focus on fixing the individual exchange.

On August 6, Monique Outerbridge, director of the CMS Office of Information Services, wrote:

Guys, this is absolutely urgent and I need an answer on this today. If this is late we have to public announce we are late with a deliverable which means [CMS Administrator] Marilyn Tavenner and the Secretary will have to announce.

CGI official Mark Calem then proposed a new schedule that would push off the full launch until November 15.

Top IT project manager Henry Chao in response to the proposal to delay the launch, wrote back “Can we sign this with blood?”

We now know the answer to that question. Henry Chao, Deputy Chief Information Officer and Deputy Director of the Office of Information Services testified before the Energy & Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on November 19, during which he dropped the bombshell that upwards of 40 – 60 percent of the site had not yet been built. The payment systems were still nonexistent.

The very same day, during testimony heard in front of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, all of the security expert witnesses were forced to admit that Americans’ personal, private user information was not safe on the federal online exchange.

David Kennedy, a “white hat hacker,” who also testified during the hearing, told Greta Van Susteren in an interview that the security and code problems associated with the federal online exchange were “impossible” to fix by the president’s self-imposed deadline.

Despite having known full well that the site could not even function by the launch, and still isn’t functioning today, Harry Reid and President Obama refused to negotiate with Republicans during the government shutdown.

Instead, Democrats, particularly the administration, ardently protected a law that at least they knew wouldn’t even be working. And the parts of the law that are working, are even more unpopular than any opponent of the law could have dreamed of.

Emails Released By House House Energy & Commerce Committee