At least one of the officials who oversaw the creation of the troubled federal insurance online marketplace will not be around to see it fixed.
Tony Trenkle, the chief information officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is stepping down from his position on Nov. 15. CMS was responsible for creating HealthCare.gov, the online insurance exchange associated with the Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as "Obamacare." Trenkle's office was responsible for overseeing the site.
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Michelle Snyder, chief operating officer of CMS, announced Trenkle's departure in an email circulated throughout the department Wednesday, in which she thanks Trenkle "for his years of public service." A CMS spokesperson forwarded a copy of the email to Mashable. Trenkle will be pursuing a position in the public sector, according to the email.
In the five weeks since its Oct. 1 launch, HealthCare.gov has been riddled with glitches, security concerns and other problems.
The Obama administration has promised a "tech surge" in an attempt to fix the site. To do so, the government has tapped experts from companies such as Google and Oracle.
The same day as the announcement about Trenkle's departure, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill. Sebelius rejected calls to delay the implementation of Obamacare, The New York Times reported.
“Delaying the Affordable Care Act would not delay people’s cancer or diabetes or Parkinson’s disease," Sebelius said.
Those wishing to enroll for a plan under the new law have until March 31. No plans begin before Jan 1. The Obama administration has not released information on how many people have been able to sign up for healthcare using the online marketplace.
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