A congressional subcommittee Wednesday evening released an internal email chain from late September that shows officials in charge of HealthCare.gov anticipating problems with the site in advance of its Oct. 1 launch.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee provided the document in a public release. It shows an email from Henry Chao, chief information officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), to his staff on Sept. 25 asking for "a more comprehensive answer as to how we will ensure high availability." CMS is the agency that has overseen the creation of HealthCare.gov.
See also: Obamacare Explained: How to Use the Internet for Health Care
Caitlin Carroll, press secretary for the Oversight Committee, told Mashable in an email that the committee obtained the email through a request it sent to 11 companies the Obama administration contracted to work on the website. Carroll did not say which company provided the emails or if it was by legal obligation.
The federal online marketplace HealthCare.gov has experienced significant technical problems since it launched on Oct. 1 as part of the Affordable Care Act, the new federal healthcare law also known as "Obamacare." In all, 34 states rely on HealthCare.gov, while the rest have state-specific sites.
Chao's request, he wrote, came after a visit from two high-level officials — White House Chief Technology Officer Todd Park and CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner.
“When Todd Park and Marilyn was [sic] here yesterday one of the things Todd conveyed was this fear the WH has about hc.gov being unavailable,” Chao wrote.
He wraps up the email by asking two people who appear to be CMS communications officers — "Jon and Ketan" — to "think about a better way to convey to the public when the site is not available." Jon Booth is director of the Web and New Media Group for CMS, and Ketan Patel works for the same group, according to the CMS website.
Chao included a screenshot of a HealthCare.gov error page:

"I am picturing in my mind all the major print and online publications taking screenshots of what is below and just ramping up the hyperbole about hc.gov not functional,” the email reads.
Chao also writes that "George" (presumably Linares, acting CMS chief technology officer) should lead a discussion "ensuring we have everything aligned with the demand for 99.99% uptime on HC.gov."
Government-released figures from last week show first-month enrollment in insurance plans on the government exchange lagged significantly behind expectations. With few exceptions, the new law requires most adults to have some form of insurance beginning in 2014. Obama has expressed frustration and anger over the glitchy site and has vowed to employ a "tech surge" to fix it.
Representatives from CMS did not reply to our inquiry by publishing time.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Image: Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images