Issa Subpoenas HHS Secretary Sebelius for HealthCare.gov Documents
WASHINGTON – Today, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., announced he has subpoenaed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for documents related to the troubled launch of HealthCare.gov, which so far the department has refused to provide.
“The Administration’s failure to provide answers about what led to the disastrous launch of HealthCare.gov and what is being done to fix it is completely unacceptable,” Chairman Issa said. “The evidence is mounting that the website did not go through proper testing, including critical security testing, and that the Administration ignored repeated warnings from contractors about ongoing problems.
“The American people deserve to know why the Administration spent significant taxpayer money on a product that is entirely dysfunctional and puts their personal information at risk. The website, however, is just the beginning of the problems with the health care law. ObamaCare is the president’s signature legislative achievement, and it’s given us skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs, fewer choices, and the cancellation of millions of people’s current health insurance coverage, directly contradicting the president’s promise that if you like your existing health insurance, you can keep it,” Chairman Issa said.
The subpoena requires HHS to produce documents related to technical problems with HealthCare.gov, the testing that went into the website and the number of people who have enrolled and attempted to enroll in federal exchanges through HealthCare.gov by 12:00 p.m. on November 13, 2013.
The document request was originally made in an October 10th letter co-signed by Chairman Issa and Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and reiterated in an October 24th letter that raised the possibility of a subpoena.