S. N. A. P. Recipients, households with single adults, not disabled, offering them an option for express enrollment in the newly Eligible Group by signing and returning the form. As of october the 21st, the state received 46,000 of those forms back and about 26,000 people had been enrolled. And theres they are in the process of enrolling the rest. Finally the state has launched a new smart online application system called aid illinois. Gov, application for benefit eligibility. The new site was launched october 1st and the website has been functioning smoothly. 47,766 accounts have been created on abe and 28,729 applications have been submitted for processing. And we looked at how our newspapers have expressed their analysis of what was taping place, the northwest herald, reported that through only two days get covered illinois had more than 230,000 visitors and nearly 800,000 page views with more than 5,000 applications. The Associated Press stated that chicago hair stylists and bartender mike leon called the federal call center after he tried the federal website five days in a row. And couldnt get it to work. Call center staff helped him and he got through in two minutes. So our experiences have been perhaps different. I thank you very much and yield back. Thank you. Miss black is recognized . Thank you, mr. Chairman for being here today. I want to go back to what dr. Price said. As a caregiver for over 40 years, i certainly now and have heard from my patients over the years about preexisting conditions and i do think we probably could have fixed that without having a total government takeover as were seeing here. Not about politics, about patients. And i want to go to something from my state, since the october 1st launch date, i received overwhelming number of stories from my constituents with concerns about the Health Care Law. 23,000 are losing access to the state sponsored program which covered those with preexisting conditions, seniors and small children and Small Businesses. One Small Business owner, greg from my district shared this story with me. I want to share this with diane. I operate a small painting business and very happy with the cover Tennessee Program for Small Businesses and their employees. It had a small copay and covered up to 25,000 each year. It covered 12 doctors visits and annual physical at reasonable costs and this is being canceled effective january 2014 because it does not meet the requirements of obama care. This directly contradicts the comments made by president obama that we could keep our existing program. They had Affordable Health care that they liked but they didnt get to keep that. And i ask, is this right or is this just for this group of people. These 28,000 citizens of tennessee are now forced to find new coverage plans on the Health Care Website there are people out there, this is not fair and just for. Let me turn to another piece. They did their own unit testing and cms was responsible for the end to end testing or the systems integrated testing, making sure that each unit worked properly with the next unit. Now, that testing failed and every contractor has said that cms made that decision for the launching of the website. You claim you didnt know there were surge problems with the website. Cms is the project manager on this and cms called the shots either there was Company Management on your part or cmss part, those you work with or ignored the fundamental concepts taken into account when this was built. I want to know if i want to know why if sufficient systems integrated testing with a not conducted. You made the decision to move forward with the website, was there a systems integ ration testing that was done . So, the testing was actually done we started testing almost immediately. It was kind of continuous testing. I think what youre asking, did we do testing across the hub and all of the agencies and the answer is yes. And so that was done and then the question inside the ffm, did we do end to end testing and the answer to that is yes, that was done. To, those tests were done, stress tests, load tests, how you accounted for and tested for peak hours. So stress testing and load testing were done. In retrospect, we were projecting three times the volume that we ever saw on the Medicare Part d experience. Because we were dealing with a much smaller population. So in the first few hours of the site, it had probably five times the volume that we ever projected. In retrospect, we could have done more about load testing. I want to know if we can get a copy of those tests so we can actually see what was done. If you can make those results available to the committee, wed appreciate it. Thank you. Mr. Young is recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. As a former Management Consultant im per plexed to the rollout, i would like to explore with you maybe what the problems were. Let me step back and talk about the issue of openness and transparency. It was cbs news that last week reported as we went into the summer of 2012, there are certain key regulations, contractors were waiting on. They had to be issued in order for them to do their work, put forward requirements for their i. T. Systems and put together health care. Gov. Could we put up a slide to illustrate the regulatory issuance pats earn. We see that we had 109 proposed regulations put forward by hhs, then starting in the summer, before the president ial election, we had zero regulations through the election and since that time period, weve seen 60 regulations put forward by hhs. My question to you, miss tavenner and cbs news did indicate that the rules were ready to go back in june or july according to one insider that they quoted in their report. So why did hhs stop issuing regulations as the person on the inside of the socalled quarterback of this website . So the regulation process, i dont know any point we stopped issuing regulations as you can see. Its been a continuous process. The regulations, we were basically there was a gap up there. I do see the gap. How do you account for that . A twomonth gap. I dont know that would be unusual. If we were to go back, im happy to go back and map the last four years. We think cbs news missed that . I dont know what cbs news did. Im telling you, we had a continuous regulatory process going on. We have worked with the public. Theres obviously a lot of back and forth between us and it would be in a regulation process. Its not unusual to take two months or four months or longer. You can assure person politics played no role in that . The regulatory process was continuous. At no point were we working on papers or getting work done. As you heard here today, there are real consequences to our constituents for the failures and shortcomings of the website. Let me ask you, let me talk about ive got limited time. I want to explain the problems with the website. Do you want me to explain the problems with the website . First of all, i would say its not a website. Its an insurance program. And sometimes i think, we think its like a website, a website looks at things. This is a complicated program tied to 34 states, including very individualized programs. People need to understand. I like to go back to healthcare. Gov, which is the website associated with signing up for requirement government sanctioned health care. Marvin writes on behalf of his wife told by her insurer that due to Health Care Reform effective 1 1 14, the policy will be terminate the as of january 1, 2014. When can she sign up for health care . Does it go on to talk about other policies sore just that shes canceled and that its . It said these cancel eligible and can. Needs to sign up through the website. She can sign through the website or go to the individual issuer. Time is expired. Mr. Besara. We appreciate youre being here. I think its become very clear and i hope in all hearings that take place further, that we understand that we have to work together. It is unacceptable to have an important part of the Health Insurance program, this website not work the way it should. In fact, let me give you a quick example. Theres a gentleman from los angeles, 34yearold male, andrew striker and hes been reported in a number of press reports. He waited three hours to try to get on the website and finally had a chance to apply. He says that was tough. The good news for mr. Striker is hes saving 6,000 as a result of being able to apply for the plan. Its unacceptable for anyone to have to wait even three hours. And even though he says he would have waited all day given the result he got, what we want is for everyone who experienced 6,000 savings, to finally have the Health Security that you and every Single Member on this committee has when it comes to health care. We dont have to worry about going bankrupt if we have to take our child to the doctor, to the hospital. And thats what andrew striker now will have. So lets fix this website, not fix ate on the website, fix the website. If i can put on the screen the application process. Today if you apply on for the Affordable Care act insurance you would have essentially three pages and the third page is more a significant page than anything else, to apply to get on a Health Insurance policy, a Health Insurance plan. If we could have the next slide, this is what the process was before Affordable Care, we had 12, 13 pages that you would have to fill out, many asking all sorts of personal questions, very deep medical probing that was done from strep throat, allergies, if you ever suffered that, acne, and all the way to whether you had cancer, heart disease, even be asked if you had learning disabilities. Can you explain why it is all of a sudden we go from 13 or so page application that proebz into your personal life to one only three pages long . I think as youre well aware, thanks to changes in the Affordable Care act, theres no longer the preexisting denial. Everyone is entitled to insurance. Which was part of the goal. The other thing that i will say, people may talk about the Affordable Care act or obama care, but once you get through that and actually talk about folks about whats going on for them, if they had a child with a preexisting condition, most of them had issues with insurance, they had to go through this complicated process. They like what they are getting now. So no longer will i get asked if i have heart disease, or acne. I can apply and i wont have to worry about what my personal lifestyle is. I will be able to get insurance. And this 13page application is now history for all of those folks who had to go ahead and apply through the individual insurance market. What i hope well do, again, fix the website, so we can get to the process of giving folks like andrew striker a 6,000 savings. I yield back. Mr. Grifen and mr. Shock. Thank you so much for being here. Ive heard a lot of good things about your work from leader cantor, thank you for being here. I wish you well. I first want to say that, as i try to indicate earlier, its really a false choice to say its obama care or all of the things that were never fixed in the healthcare world have to continue. There are many different options in between there. Ive signed on to legislation that would also deal with preexisting conditions. So i just want to make clear to the public to imply that you have to take all of what obama care delivers to get to address preexisting conditions, or you get none of that addressed, thats not true. And we can have that debate. Let me ive heard from a lot of arkansasans, she says, her name is jennifer in little rock. Quote, im an Arkansas State employee, government worker. We received a newsletter from the employ benefit division during open enrollment. Our insurance covers less and costs more. It says, quote, these changes were made to more closely align the plans with the Affordable Care act. Another sentence quote, because of this the value of the plans were lowered to be more in line with the law, end quote. Im quite disgusted, just because the federal government is starting a Health Insurance marketplace, doesnt mean that my coverage needs to change. But it has and it has changed for the worse. If you need a copy of this newsletter, please let me know, thank you for working on this problem. I have a copy of the newsletter here. So there are a lot of people that tell that story. And i have pages of it. Yes, there are people that are getting covered because of preexisting conditions. My point is, you dont have to do it this way. And thats why a lot of us continue to have a problem with the law. Yes, we have voted 43 times or so, but the talking what the talking points dont tell you, seven of those votes became law because the president agreed to those things. So the idea that weve had the same exact vote 44 times is talking point nonsense. But i guess what i would ask you is, are these increased premiums and increased copays, is that just the cost of is that the cost of providing more access to health care . How do i what do i say to people who say, why am i paying more . Do i tell them, thats a tax . We didnt call it a tax but thats a tax you got to pay so that more folks have access . Is that fair . Is that what it is really . What i would say to those folks, its going to depend on their individual, you know, situation because if they are in a group market where they already had Group Employers sponsored insurance, thats a different situation. If they are in an individual market, what you can say to them now, theyll have access to health care and now have a competitive market. If youre paying time is expired. I appreciate you, thank you. Thank you, all. This discussion about websites that dont work. Lets talk about a website that does. On whitehouse. Gov right now, if you go to whitehouse. Gov, Health Insurance reality check, headline, you can keep your Health Insurance if you like it, currently on their website. Linda douglas of the White House Office of Health Reform debunks the myth that reform will force you out of your current insurance plan, if you like it, force you to change doctors, period. To the contrary, reform will expand your choices, not eliminate them. White house. Gov cites three sources to substantiate their claim. One of them is a blog post and one is a video of a press conference that the president gave in july. And one is a Teletown Hall hosted by aarp. If you click on them, the first question that the president was asked came from a woman named margaret in greelly, colorado, mr. President , ive heard i could lose the Health Insurance that i have currently. And the president says to that question, heres im quoting, heres a guarantee that ive made, semicolon. If you have insurance you like, you will be able to keep that insurance, period. That is on whitehouse. Gov website today. Reality check is their headline on Health Insurance reform. Let me tell you about the reality check that millions in my district are getting. Michelle york from triple digit trucking in jacksonville, illinois, just sent this letter today from blue cross, blue shield. All plans must be compliant with the new Health Care Law. Therefore Blue Cross Blue ShieldHealth Insurance plan that you currently have now will no longer be available after december 31st, your premiums will go from 474 to 865, effective january 1 and nearly 100 increase. She writes to me, do not understand how my current policy can legally be canceled since im already doing what im supposed to do. What am i supposed to say to miss york in jacksonville, illinois . First thing i would do is encourage her to go talk to the website or go to the call center and see whats available wait a minute. She is told by the president , the whitehouse. Gov website says if you have Health Insurance that you like, you will be able to keep it. She has Health Insurance that she likes and shes been paying her premium, wants to keep it. But she cant. Isnt that a lie . You know, theres always been the issue where issuers have the ability to stop offering a policy this is not the issuers wanting to stop to offer policy. The issuer saying were being mandated that we cant continue to offer this policy. Yes or no question, the whitehouse. Gov website, if you like it you can keep it, thats a lie. Those issuers were grandfathered in in 2010 and choosing to make a different decision now. Mr. Kind. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Miss tavenner, thank you for your patience and indulgence. Let me ask you to end on a high note. All of the questions surrounding the aca have been asked and answered and exhausted. I know secretary sebelius will be here tomorrow answer the same questions you had. The key to all of this is make sure all americans have access to quality, Affordable HealthCare Coverage in their life, period. There may be different ways to doing that but the real key is affordable. What can we bend the cost curve within the Health Care System so its more affordable for all americans. Youve been given a lot of tools under the Affordable Care act for Cost Containment, trying to get better value, good quality of care and much better price. What are you seeing out there right now in that regard and whether or not its sustainable in the future . Thats a great question. What weve seen in our early work with the Innovation Center and chiefly targeted at the medicare population