Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has asked the agencys inspector general to review the development of Healthcare.gov, among other steps, in order to take concrete action and prevent future issues, she announced in a Wednesday blog post.
Sebelius has asked the IG, Dan Levinson, to perform a thorough review of the contractor performance and program management structure that resulted in the flawed launch of the website.
Levinson is tasked with reviewing the acquisition process, overall program management, as well as contractor performance and payment issues related to the development and management of the website. Sebelius notes that action will be taken based on the inspector generals findings.
In the blog, posted on the Secretarys website, she said that the fact remains that the launch of the website was flawed and simply unacceptable.
Further, Sebelius has asked Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to create a new full-time, permanent position a CMS Chief Risk Officer who will focus on mitigating risk across CMSs programs. The individual, who will be appointed by Tavenner, will lead efforts to prepare mitigation strategies to minimize those risks, and will develop metrics to measure the effectiveness of those strategies.
Finally, the secretary said that HHS will update and expand CMS employee training on best practices for contractor and procurement management, rules and procedures.
