McCarthy: Obamacare is not ready for prime time and the early flaws are just the tip of the iceberg

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Whip and a Bakersfield Republican, gives us his weekly view from Capitol Hill. In his words:

 "This week was filled with news reports on “glitches” associated with the Obamacare website. However, the problems being created by this law go well beyond technical difficulties. To hundreds of thousands of Americans losing health coverage because of Obamacare, it is not a “glitch.” It’s not a glitch when hard-working Americans receive letters informing them that they and their families will no longer be able to keep their current health care plan – a fundamental promise this President made to us when Obamacare was being rammed through a then-Democrat controlled Congress.

 "While the Administration continues to hold press conferences to tell us ‘it’s being handled,’ it is unlikely that they will read these letters or listen to the stories that are unfolding from this unfortunate reality. As October 1st approached, the Obama Administration assured the nation that everything was running smoothly with Obamacare. But unfortunately, it is now clear that the fears that many Americans had about this law were in fact well-founded.

  "Even HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that the exchanges “didn’t have enough testing” and that the exchanges “needed five years of construction.”  She explained that HHS only had two years to construct the program with “almost no testing.”  If that is indeed the case, then why did Secretary Sebelius and the Obama Administration insist on rolling out the exchanges years before they could be ready, and not agree with many in Congress and millions of Americans that Obamacare should be delayed?

  "Not only is it very difficult for individuals to get past the first steps of signing up, but the system’s coding appears to be corrupted and is channeling inaccurate applicant information, raising the risk of improper payments, and worse, risking the loss of coverage and opening applicants up to the potential of their identities being stolen. The Obama Administration has spent over $500 million in taxpayer money and counting to develop this website, more money than Apple spent to develop the iPhone, and more money than Facebook and Twitter spent combined to develop their sites.  This type of mismanagement is unacceptable and those responsible must be held accountable.

  "Now elected officials from both sides of the aisle agree with what I have believed all along: Obamacare is not ready for prime time and Americans should have gotten the same delay that the President unilaterally gave businesses. And this week, as many American households received letters cancel
ing their coverage, we know that the President was wrong when he said, ‘if you have health care and you like it, you can keep it.” No Rose Garden infomercial can hide what Americans are experiencing: hardworking families and workers are losing their private plans or are being told that they now must pay higher premiums because of this Un-affordable Care Act.