WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Up to 40 percent of the technology needed to run the new Obamacare health insurance marketplace has not yet been built and will not be ready when insurance companies start sending in bills when coverage begins January 1, the project manager of HealthCare.gov told the U.S. Congress on Tuesday. The missing back-end technology may not be ready until mid-January, Henry Chao, deputy chief information officer for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told a House of Representatives oversight subcommittee. If the business functions are not in place on time, it could create havoc with a system through which billions of dollars in federal tax money will flow to subsidize coverage for consumers who otherwise could not afford it, insurance industry officials said. The first payments are due in mid- to late January. The disclosure added to an atmosphere of uncertainty that has engulfed President Barack Obamas signature domestic policy achievement since HealthCare.gov crashed soon after its October 1 launch.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 20:37:10 +0000
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