Obamacare is Totally Working, Says CMS Director

Marilyn Tavenner, the Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was called up to Capitol Hill this morning to testify before the House on the epic failure of the Obamacare rollout, which we have chronicled here at FreedomWorks before.

Tavenner told Texas Congressman Kevin Brady this morning, “What I can guarantee is that we have a system that’s working. We’re going to improve the speed of that system.” As you can imagine that sparked a response from Congressman Brady.

“Excuse me. You’re saying the system right now is working?” said Brady.

Tavenner responded, “I’m saying it’s working. It’s just not working at the speed that we want and at the success rate that want. Those are the things we’re working on.”

 

Tavenner insisted that even if the website is “not working at the speed that we want” (which has to be the understatement of the year), that Americans can also try the help line or perhaps in person sign-up if they live somewhere it is available.

One CNN reporter tried to sign up over the phone last week and encountered failure there as well.

They told me we needed to first get set up with an application. That part was very simple too — I was asked basic questions like my name, address and Social Security number.

Five minutes later, they said I was I all set.

So did that mean I was enrolled? No.

I have to call back– in one to three weeks — for that.

Turns out, the call center can’t actually process applications over the phone. They can just take your information and submit it for you.

Once I get a paper statement in the mail saying I’m eligible to enroll, I can then call the center back and enroll over the phone, the representative said.

Folks, the government says the website is working, but in case it’s not, try the phone, or mail.  Got that?  They’re working well too, except the CNN couldn’t even get specifics from the operator as to what plans she would have access to in the exchange. As the reporter notes, this is “a long, drawn-out process for something that it appears could be done immediately with technology.”

Technology that doesn’t work. Don’t tell ehealthinsurance.com. 

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