Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Wednesday that she has called on the HHS inspector general to investigate HealthCare.gov.
“I’ve asked our inspector general, Dan Levinson, to investigate the development of HealthCare.gov,” Sebelius said before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“Including contractor acquisition, the overall management of the project, and performance and payment of our contractors,” she noted.
In her letter to Levinson requesting the review, Sebelius asked that his office “consider an expedited review of these issues.”
Sebelius explained, that with HealthCare.gov “working more smoothly,” now is the time to look at what went wrong and how to avoid similar failures in the future.
In addition to a review of the failed launch, Sebelius added that she has also called on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner to create and fill a new position, “chief risk officer,” which will be tasked with reviewing risk management practices and create strategies to lessen risk.
“I will instruct this officer to look at IT and contracting management practices starting with HeatlthCare.gov and the risk factors that impeded the successful launch,” she said.
Further, she said, she has called on CMS to update its employee training for dealing with and procuring contractors.
Sebelius first revealed her plans in a Wednesday morning blog post, prior to her appearance before the House panel.