Obama administration officials, facing criticism that they are behind schedule in implementing the president’s health-care law, said Tuesday that they have finished a major piece of the technology that will help millions of Americans sign up for insurance this fall.
Federal health officials said they have completed the “data hub,” a complex system that will verify people’s Social Security numbers, immigration status and other information when they log on to government Web sites to buy health plans and apply for government subsidies.
The milestone is a significant victory for the administration, which is battling growing skepticism that it will be ready Oct. 1, when people are supposed to be able to start signing up for health plans under the law, commonly called Obamacare. For months, officials have faced questions about whether the computer systems, which are exceedingly complex, would be up and running in time.
A government watchdog warned this month that a critical security test for the data hub had been delayed and was not scheduled to be completed until Sept. 30. But on Tuesday, officials said they managed to finish that testing on time Friday, calling it a major turning point.
Want to publish your own articles on DistilINFO Publications?
Send us an email, we will get in touch with you.
“After over two years of work, [the hub] is built and ready for operation, and we have completed security testing and certification to operate,” said Todd Park, chief technology officer of the United States. “This is an important step in being ready for open enrollment on Oct. 1.”
Officials described the data hub as a network of secure servers that route information. It will connect databases maintained by several federal agencies — including the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security — with other databases maintained in the states.
The security testing, though not as late as feared, nevertheless comes during crunch time for the health-care law, key provisions of which kick in over the next six months.
Starting next year, virtually every American will have to carry health insurance or face a fine; those who lack coverage will have from Oct. 1 to March 31 to meet that mandate.
Whether people comply will depend in part on how easy it is to sign up for an affordable plan, which is one reason why administration officials are aiming to make the process of signing up as simple as possible.
The computer system must also ensure people receive only benefits to which they are entitled based on their income and other factors. If it works properly, the system will be able to fact-check parts of a person’s application in real time, verifying their Social Security number, immigration status and other factors to determine their eligibility for subsidies or for Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor.
Date: September 11, 2013