The updated figure comes as administration officials tried to respond to complaints and finger-pointing from the contractors who built the troubled website,www.healthcare.gov. Testifying before a House committee Thursday, the contractors blamed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which essentially was project manager, for not conducting complete “end-to-end” testing of the site until two weeks before the Oct. 1 launch date.
On a call with reporters, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services officials did not dispute that account.
“Due to a compressed time frame, this system just wasn't tested enough, especially for high volumes,” said spokeswoman Julie Bataille.
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Asked why time was short for a system more than three years in the making, Bataille cited the “complexity of the system.”
“Obviously, when you put all of those pieces in place over a period of time, I think it is no surprise to anyone that we are operating under a compressed time frame to get all of that done and in order to do the rigorous testing that was needed,” she said.
Officials also acknowledged they were responsible for the decision some experts have isolated as the pivotal design flaw -- a requirement that visitors to the site create accounts before shopping for insurance plans. Republicans have charged that the administration scrapped a so-called “window shopping” function because officials were worried users would get sticker shock and turn away from Obamacare.
