A top Obamacare official called the effort to launch last year’s utterly unusable HealthCare.gov a “cruel and uncaring march” in emails to top U.S. tech official Todd Park, who’s denied knowing much about the website at all.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Michelle Snyder, second only to agency chief Marilyn Tavenner, wrote to former U.S. Chief Technology Todd Park several times about Tavenner’s bitter and demanding attempts to launch HealthCare.gov on time — “no matter what,” according to Fox News.
“Just so you know [Tavenner] decided in January we were going no matter what,” Snyder wrote to Park in September 2013, according to emails obtained by Fox News. “Hence the really cruel and uncaring march that has occurred since January when she threatened me with a demotion or forced retirement if I didn’t take this on.”
“Do you really think [Tavenner] has enough understanding of the risks to fight for a delay — no and hell no,” Snyder told Park in September, before HealthCare.gov launched.
Park said in congressional testimony to the House Oversight Committee in 2013 that he doesn’t “actually have a really detailed knowledge base of what actually happened pre-Oct. 1. … I am not even familiar with the development and testing regiment that happened prior to Oct. 1.” (RELATED: House Subpoenas Top WH Tech Official Over HealthCare.gov Security)
But the House Science Space and Technology Committee obtained emails between Park, Tavenner and CMS official Henry Chao regarding HealthCare.gov IT security. The committee has subpoenaed Park, requiring him to testify before the subcommittee on oversight.
“I appreciate you belief [sic] in the goodness of others but at this point I am too tired to pretend that there is a decision to be made — it is just how much crap my team will have to take if it isn’t sufficiently successful — you haven’t lived through the temper tantrums and threats of the last 9 months,” Snyder complained to Park.
Snyder announced her resignation in December 2013, in the middle of the “tech surge” to fix HealthCare.gov after its disastrous launch on Oct. 1. (RELATED: Docs Reveal Just One Person Signed Up For Obamacare On Day One)
The Science, Space and Technology Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday about the security of the website. HealthCare.gov has already been breached at least once by hackers in its year of operation. (RELATED: Hacker Hits HealthCare.gov)
