Nov. 13, 2013 11:18 a.m. ET
A top White House technology official said the HealthCare.gov website can currently handle up to 25,000 users at the same time, calling into question how well the troubled entry point for people in 36 states searching for individual health insurance will function by the end of the month.
In testimony Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, White House chief technology officer Todd Park said technology teams were working aggressively to fix the website and get it working "for the vast majority" of Americans by the end of the month. In order for those seeking health coverage that takes effect on Jan. 1, people need to sign up for insurance by Dec. 15.
Separately, the Obama administration said Wednesday that 26,794 Americans selected a private insurance plan sold through the troubled federally run health exchange in its first month, falling far short of initial expectations. The administration, releasing the first nationwide figures on enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, said that an additional 79,391 had been able to choose a private plan in the states running their own exchanges through Nov. 2.
Under questioning from lawmakers on the panel, Mr. Park said the website won't be "perfect" but it is continuing to be upgraded and has allowed more people to successfully sign up for health coverage than in early October, when the website locked up for most users.
"There are a lot of hedge words," said Rep. Blake Farenthold (R., Texas), a former website developer, asking whether the Nov. 30 deadline would be met. "That's what I was saying to clients when we were going to miss a deadline."
Mr. Parks responded, "The team is working really hard to hit that goal and that's what I'm saying now." He said the website can currently handle about 20,000 to 25,000 people at the same time. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had designed HealthCare.gov to handle up to 60,000 concurrent users in 36 states using that website. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia are running their own insurance websites.
During the hearing, Rep. James Lankford (R., Okla.) tried to create an account on HealthCare.gov using his iPad and couldn't.
Democrats also expressed frustration at the continuing problems with the website. The panel's top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, said, "We've had a lot of bad news at this hearing."
In his opening remarks, Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), chairman of the House oversight committee, called the rollout of HealthCare.gov a "monumental mistake," which set a sharp partisan tone ahead of the testimony. "Whether you like Obamacare or not, taxpayer dollars were wasted," Mr. Issa said.
A witness from the Government Accountability Office said "north of" $600 million had been spent on HealthCare.gov through the end of September.
Mr. Cummings accused Mr. Issa of making unsupported allegations against administration officials in television interviews before the hearing. "Nobody in this country believes that Republicans want to fix the website," Mr. Cummings said.
The White House initially resisted Mr. Issa's subpoena for Mr. Park to testify, saying he was busy trying to fix the website and would prefer to testify later. Ultimately, Mr. Park agreed to appear.
Another administration official, Henry Chao, the deputy chief information officer at CMS, which is overseeing HealthCare.gov, conceded that "significant work remains" to bolster the website.
Mr. Chao was peppered with questions about the security of the website and why full security tests weren't conducted before its launch. Mr. Chao said the security was tested as each section of the website was built and continues to be tested. David Powner, the GAO's director of information and technology management issues, testified that security testing was "done early on an incomplete system and the [question] is what is being done now and how adequate that is to date."
Write to Jennifer Corbett Dooren at jennifer.corbett-dooren@wsj.com
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