Obama administration vows 'tech surge' for HealthCare.gov
Conceding that the health insurance marketplace "has not lived up to the expectations of the American people," a US government blog post promises to enlist aid from among "the best and brightest."
The Obama administration has promised a "tech surge" to tackle the myriad technical issues that have plagued HealthCare.gov, acknowledging that the online health insurance marketplace "has not lived up to the expectations of the American people."
"Our team is bringing in some of the best and brightest from both inside and outside government to scrub in with the team and help improve healthcare.gov," the administration said in a 600-word post that was published Sunday on the Web site of the US Department of Health and Human Services. "We're also putting in place tools and processes to aggressively monitor and identify parts of healthcare.gov where individuals are encountering errors or having difficulty using the site."
The post did not give any hint of who the administration might have in mind for the job. CNET has contacted HHS for comment on the matter and will update this report when we learn more.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that a group of Presidential Innovation Fellows visited the Herndon, Va., facility of CGI Group, the IT contractor behind most of the online marketplace. The fellows are private-sector technology innovators who are paired with government tech experts for brief "tours of duty" at government agencies.
The launch of HealthCare.gov on October 1 was met with complaints of bugs and slow load times that prevented millions of people from searching for coverage. While acknowledging that software glitches hobbled the system, the White House has not offered specifics on the root of the problems.
The president is expected to address the issues during an event in the White House Rose Garden on Monday.