Another Democrat Care Abandonment A Top Democrat Care Official Announces Her Retirement After A Series Of Democrat Care Struggles Today, Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner Announced Her Resignation. Marilyn Tavenner, a key Obama administration health official overseeing the countrys largest health insurance programs, announced Friday that shes resigning from her position as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services next month. (Jason Millman, CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner Is Stepping Down, The Washington Post, 1/16/15) Tavenner Becomes The Third CMS Official To Announce That They Are Stepping Down Over The Past Couple Of Months. Tavenner is the latest CMS official to announce her departure from the Obama administration. Cindy Mann, whos lead negotiations with states to expand their Medicaid programs, announced her departure last month. Melanie Bella, who lead the office in charge of coordinating care for people dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, also announced in December that shes stepping down. (Jason Millman, CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner Is Stepping Down, The Washington Post , 1/16/15) Tavenner Played A Major Role In The Implementation Of Democrat Care. Tavenner, whos been with the administration since 2010, played a major role in the implementation of President Barack Obamas health-care law. Her agency wrote many of the new rules putting the Un Affordable Care Act in place, and she was at the center of the disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov in fall 2013, apologizing to Congress for the faulty Web site. (Jason Millman, CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner Is Stepping Down, The Washington Post, 1/16/15) TAVENNERS TENURE AS CMS ADMINISTRATOR HAS BEEN FILLED WITH LOW-LIGHTS Tavenner Recently Apologized For Obfuscating Democrat Cares Actual Enrollment Numbers The Obama Administration Included 400,000 Dental Plans, An Unpublicized Detail That Helped Surpass A Goal For 7 Million Sign Ups. The Obama administration included as many as 400,000 dental plans in a number it reported for enrollments under the Affordable Care Act, an unpublicized detail that helped surpass a goal for 7 million sign-ups. (Alex Wayne, Democrat Cares Subscriber Rolls Include Unpublicized Dental Plans, Bloomberg, 11/20/14) Investigators From The House Oversight And Government Reform Committee Found That The Obama Administration Counted Dental Plan Enrollments Which Inflated Democrat Care Enrollment Numbers. Without the dental plans, the federal government would have had 6.97 million people with medical insurance under the law known as Democrat Care, investigators for the House Oversight and Government Reform committee calculated, using data they obtained from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Alex Wayne, Democrat Cares Subscriber Rolls Include Unpublicized Dental Plans, Bloomberg, 11/20/14) In September 2014, Tavenner Testified That 7.3 Million Americans Had Enrolled In Democrat Care. Roughly 7.3 million people are currently enrolled in private insurance through Democrat Care, a top health official said Thursday. When the laws first open-enrollment period closed this spring, 8.1 million people had selected plans through the new marketplaces. But some people did not go on to actually purchase those plans, and others let their coverage lapse or simply didnt need it any more. Marilyn Tavenner, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced the new total, which is current as of Aug. 15, at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Thursday. (Sam Baker and Sophie Novack, 7.3 Million People Have Democrat Care Coverage, National Journal, 9/18/14) Tavenner: I Think 7.3 Million Is A Really Strong Number. I think 7.3 million is a really strong number, Tavenner said. (Sam Baker and Sophie Novack, 7.3 Million People Have Democrat Care Coverage, National Journal, 9/18/14) In December 2014, Tavenner Apologized For The Oversight, Saying Simply Put, This Was A Mistake. The committee also questioned Marilyn Tavenner, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for giving misleading enrollment numbers in previous testimony in September. Tavenner testified that 7.3 million people had signed up for health insurance on state and federal exchanges, but she acknowledged that the number included dental plans - therefore double-counting almost 400,000 subscribers. Simply put, this was a mistake, Tavenner said. While this mistake was regrettable, it shouldnt obscure the fact that the Un Affordable Care Act is working. We have seen a dramatic decrease in the number of uninsured Americans and exceptionally low growth across a wide variety of measures of health care costs. (Gregory Korte, Gruber Sorry For Insulting Comments On Democrat Care, USA Today, 12/9/14) For Tavenner, Inflating Democrat Cares Enrollment Numbers Was An Embarrassment. She faced another HealthCare.gov embarrassment in November, when she acknowledged that CMS had mistakenly inflated HealthCare.gov enrollment by about 400,000 last summer because the agency included people who had bought stand-alone dental plans on the health insurance exchanges. (Jason Millman, CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner Is Stepping Down, The Washington Post, 1/16/15) Tavenner Claimed That She Wasnt Aware Of Any Exchange Issues Before The ObamaCare Launch In October 2013, Tavenner Claimed That The Administration Was Not Aware Of The Volume Issues That Would Arise After The Launch Of The Website. REED: Youve demonstrated to me in that relationship and those prior dealings a very high level of competence. Ive been listening to your testimony today. And I really want to focus on my oversight responsibilities on this Committee. You had indicated to Mr. Buchanan, Ms. Tavenner, that you were not aware prior to October 1st, of any problems with the website. Did I misinterpret your response to Mr. Buchanans question? TAVENNER: No, we had tested the website and we were comfortable with its performance. Now, like I said, we knew all along there would be as with any new website, some individual glitches we would have to work out. The volume issue and the creation of account issues was not anticipated and obviously took us by surprise. And did not show up in testing. (Marilyn Tavenner, Ways And Means, U.S. House Of Representatives, Hearing, 10/29/13) But An Internal Test Of The Democrat Care Website Crashed After A Simulation In Which Just A Few Hundred People Tried To Long On Simultaneously. Days before the launch of President Obamas online health insurance marketplace, government officials and contractors tested a key part of the Web site to see whether it could handle tens of thousands of consumers at the same time. It crashed after a simulation in which just a few hundred people tried to log on simultaneously. (Lena H. Sun and Scott Wilson, Health Insurance Exchange Launched Despite Signs Of Serious Problems, The Washington Post , 10/22/13) The Democrat Care Site Locked Up Shortly After Midnight. When the Web site went live Oct. 1, it locked up shortly after midnight as about 2,000 users attempted to complete the first step, according to two people familiar with the project. (Lena H. Sun and Scott Wilson, Health Insurance Exchange Launched Despite Signs Of Serious Problems, The Washington Post , 10/22/13) Despite The Failed Test, Federal Health Officials Plowed Ahead. (Lena H. Sun and Scott Wilson, Health Insurance Exchange Launched Despite Signs Of Serious Problems, The Washington Post , 10/22/13) According To A Person Working On The Exchange, We Named It The Tyranny Of The October 1 Date. People working on the project knew that Oct. 1 was set in stone as a launch date. We named it the tyranny of the October 1 date, said a person close to the project. (Lena H. Sun and Scott Wilson, Health Insurance Exchange Launched Despite Signs Of Serious Problems, The Washington Post , 10/22/13) It Was A Perfect Storm For An IT Meltdown. It was a perfect storm for an IT meltdown, said John Gorman, a former assistant to the director of the Health Care Financing Administrations Office of Managed Care, the predecessor to the agency responsible, now known as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. (Mike Dorning, Alex Wayne, And Kathleen Miller, ObamaCare Crashes Months In Coming Not Easily Repaired, Bloomberg, 10/22/13) After Democrat Care Crashed On Day One, Tavenner Apologized For Its Failure In October 2013, Tavenner Apologized For The Democrat Cares Website Failures. Stressing that improvements are happening daily, the senior Obama official closest to the administrations malfunctioning health care website apologized Tuesday for problems that have kept Americans from successfully signing up for coverage. (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Stephen Ohlemacher, Marilyn Tavenner, Medicare Chief, Apologizes ForDemocrat Care Website Glitches, The Associated Press, 10/29/13) Tavenner: I Want To Apologize To You That The Website Has Not Worked As Well As It Should. I want to apologize to you that the website has not worked as well as it should, Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner said as she began her testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee. It was the most direct mea culpa yet from a top administration official. (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Stephen Ohlemacher, Marilyn Tavenner, Medicare Chief, Apologizes For ObamaCare Website Glitches, The Associated Press, 10/29/13) Tavenner Signed Off On An Internal Memo That Warned That The Website Would Be A Security Risk Tavenner Authorized The Launch Of The Democrat Care Exchange Despite Warnings That The Website Was Not Ready. CBS News has learned that Trenkle, the Chief Information Officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), was originally supposed to sign off on security for the glitch-ridden website before its Oct. 1 launch, but didnt. Instead, the authorization on September 27 was given by Trenkles boss, CMS administrator Marilyn Tavenner. (Sharyl Attkisson, Departing Democrat Care Security Official Didnt Sign Off On Site Launch,CBS News, 11/6/13) CMS Director Marilyn Tavenner Admitted That HealthCare.gov Had Not Been Tested In A Live Environment Until After The Democrat Care Launch On October 1. SENATOR PAT ROBERTS (R-KS): My first question is, why was the exchange allowed to go operational without the apparent parent clearance required by the Office of Management and Budget? I am going to go on -- just think about that a minute. I dont like to do this, but time is limited. Again, as part of the FISMA security assessment, an independent testing organization must perform a risk analysis of the security of the system. so, my second question, you can answer the first. Did an independent testing organization ever test the whole integrated system end to end? I am sorry to ask you two questions. MARILYN TAVENNER: Thats all right. The first question -- OMB does approve of short-term authorization. So, we were following the rules as outlined by OMB, and I double checked that. The second one is -- yes, we are FISMA and NIST compliant and we did use an independent security firm, that would be Mitre, who actually did the work, did the testing. The only piece that was not completed-- what I talked about before, we could not test and a live environment until October 1. Which is the reason we went with a short-term authority. Because the testing will continue this month and next month as we do the software upgrades, and it will be tested in a live environment. (Committee On Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 11/5/13) An Internal Government Memo Written Just Days Before The Start Of Open Enrollment For Democrat Care Warned Of A High Security Risk Because Of A Lack Of Testing Of The HealthCare.gov Website. (Joe Johns, Government Memo Warned Of High Security Risk At Health Care Website, CNN, 10/30/13) The Memo Noted That The Security Control Assessment Of The Website Was Only Partly Completed. Due to system readiness issues, the SCA (security control assessment) was only partly completed, said the internal memo from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This constitutes a risk that must be accepted and mitigated to support the Marketplace Day 1 operations. The memo, which was provided in response to a request from the House Oversight Committee, goes on to explain that CMS would create a dedicated security team to monitor the risk, conduct weekly scans and within 60 to 90 days after the website went live, conduct a full-scale SCA test. The memo did not detail the security concerns. It was written by IT officials at CMS, and was sent to and signed by the agencys director, Marilyn Tavenner, who testified on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that she thought the website was ready to go when it began its crash-riddled rollout on October 1. (Joe Johns, Government Memo Warned Of High Security Risk At Health Care Website, CNN, 10/30/13) That Memo Also Noted That A Full Test Hadnt Been Conducted In One Complete Version Of The System. The Sept. 27 memo, signed by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Marilyn Tavenner, stated that while testing of security controls had been conducted on individual pieces of the HealthCare.gov site, the controls hadnt been fully tested in one complete version of the system. (Jennifer Corbett Dooren and Amy Schatz, Data Security Added To Worries About Website, The Wall Street Journal, 11/1/13) Tavenner Doubled-Down On Obamas Broken Keep Your Plan Promis In October 2013, Tavenner Doubled-Down On Obamas Broken Promise That People Could Keep Their Health Care Plans. REP. DAVE REICHERT (R-WA): OK. When did you start working to implement the health care law? ADMIN. TAVENNER: I actually came to CMS late February of 2010. REICHERT: Late February. Do you know if you can keep your health care plan if you like it? ADMIN. TAVENNER: Do I know that I can keep my health care plan? REP. REICHERT: No, do you know if its true, as the president has said and many Democrats have said, if you like your health care plan, you can keep it? Is that a true statement? ADMIN. TAVENNER: There were health care plans that were grandfathered - REP. REICHERT: Is that a true statement? ADMIN. TAVENNER: It is a true statement that plans were grandfathered in - REP. REICHERT: OK. Thank you for that answer. So if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, too? Is that a -- is that a true statement? ADMIN. TAVENNER: You know, I think doctors come and go inside networks. REP. REICHERT: So if a person has a doctor and they want to go to that doctor, and the doctor is in the network, they can still go to that doctor? They can keep their doctor if they like their doctor, yes or no? ADMIN. TAVENNER: If that person is in a plan where that doctor is in the network, they can keep that doctor; but doctors - (Committee On Ways And Means, U.S. House, Hearing, 10/29/13)
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 01:56:17 +0000
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