Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius apologized during a congressional panel on Wednesday for the flaws with Affordable Care Act enrollment, and is holding herself accountable.
“In these early weeks, access to HealthCare.gov has been a miserably frustrating experience for way too many Americans, including many who have waited years, in some cases their entire lives, for the security of health insurance,” Sebelius told the House Energy and Commerce Committee in her opening remarks.
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“I am as frustrated and angry as anyone with the flawed launch of HealthCare.gov,” she said. “So let me say directly to these Americans: You deserve better. I apologize. I’m accountable to you for fixing these problems.”
Since the enrollment site’s launch at the beginning of the month, users have faced slow loading speeds and error messages, among other glitches.
To make matters worse, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, told Sebelius that the website was down as they were speaking, then asked for the cost of the troubled site.
“So far, congresswoman, we have spent about $118 million on the website itself, and about $56 million has been expended on other IT,” Sebelius said.
When pressed by Blackburn as to who is in charge of overseeing the project, Sebelius once again stressed that she should be held “accountable for the debacle.”
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