mr. waxman said, this can be fixed if you will work with us. ield now to the gentlewoman from colorado, miss degette. >> thank you very much. , mr. pallone. as we've heard, we're here today to find out what the problem is with the healthcare.gov website and how we can fix these multiple technical problems. last month, as the chairman noted, we heard from cgi, qssi,er is could and he can -- serco, equifax, the same four contractors that are here today. they told us the website would work. we asked them point-blank. mr. pallone asked them and i asked them. they told us hhs was doing an excellent job of testing the product. they said there was nothing wrong and they expressed nothing but optimism. so weeks later here we are. we're still hearing reports of significant problems. i appreciate all the contractors coming today. i give them the benefit of the doubt when they say things are improving but, i want to stress, for the affordable care act to act work, these problems need to be fixed and these props need to be fixed fast. we need to hear today

mr. waxman. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. the affordable care act is an enormous success, with one obvious exception. it has a poorly designed website. the law has already accomplished a lot. millions of americans, especially seniors, have saved hundreds of dollars on prescription drugs. young people have gotten health insurance coverage. families have received rebates from their insurance companies that use more than 20% for their overhead costs. preventive care is now a free benefit in medicare and private insurance. every day, we hear more stories of people saving thousands of dollars and finally getting the security of quality health insurance. what has not happened and what has not been successful is the early performance of the website. that has caused understandable frustration and anxiety as americans have tried to sign up for the coverage. the heart of the law is getting insurance coverage, private insurance coverage that others have who work for large employers like the federal government. democrats want healthcare.

mr. waxman. >> thank you. as we evaluate the problems with this website, i think it is important that we focus on the facts. my republican colleagues have been predicting health care reform would be a disaster. every time they have been wrong. they said insurance rates would skyrocket. they are lower than predicted. they said health care costs would soar. in fact, they have grown at a record low rate. they said medicare would be undermined. it is stronger than ever. seniors are saving billions of dollars on prescription drugs. what we need to do is separate the facts for us to reach a determination here. some have said fixing the website would take six months to a year. others have said there are 5 million lines of code to rewrite. some have urged health and human services to pull out the entire system and start from scratch. i hope you can put these dire predictions in perspective. does cgi expect it would take six months to a year to get the application and enrollment process moving smoothly? >> we do not. w

mr. waxman? >> thank you, mr. chairman. as we evaluate the problems with this website, i think it's important that we focus on the facts. my republican colleagues have been predicting that health care reform would be a disaster for three years now and every time they have been wrong. they said insurance rates would skyrocket. in fact they're lower than predicted. they said health care costs would soar. in fact they have grown at a record low rate. they said that medicare would be you know mined and in fact it is stronger than ever. and seniors are saving billions of dollars on prescription drugs. so what we need to do is separate the facts for us to reach a determination here. some have said fixing the website would take six months to a year. others have said that there are five million lines of code to rewrite. some have urged health and human services to pull down the entire system and start from scratch. miss campbell, i hope you can help us put these dire predictions in perspective. does cgi expect -- bill: we've been w

mr. waxman for four minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman, i have to smile at your line of questioning because everybody expected this hearing was about the website. stuart: miss sebelius says there was no change that you could be grandfathered in. >> she's lying because the grandfather clause for those plans, right in the law, had an old list of exceptions that made the grandfather clause meaningless. compare it with the grandfather clause for unions in the very next paragraph where there, that is guaranteed period, as the president said, without the long string of fine print to make it meaningless. stuart: got it. mr. waxman is on, getting political, go. >> he said tens of millions would lose their insurance, but in fact everybody in this country is going to have action cess to health insurance because they won't be discriminated against. they said that it would explode the deficit and yet the reputable organizations like the budget office says it's going to save 100 billion dollars over ten years. so we've had a litany of objecti

mr. waxman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. based on some of the testimony some might think we are building a new networking being built across the country. an i.t. networking that runs onlines and wireless air waives. others suggest it's not no new networking, but the new electronics added to the copper and fiber structure transporting voice and data throughout the country for years. why are the distinctions important? what we really care about are basic values like protecting consumers and competition. universal service and public safety. why does it matter what kind of infrastructure communications runs over? it's my understanding that google is currently planning to offer extremely fast internet access over new fiber networks being deployed in three communities. although consumers can sign up for video service, to compliment their internet access service, google is not offering a voice product. google has not been shy about stating that it is not offering voice at least in part, due to the complex rules associated with prov

mr. waxman, for four minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i had to smile at your line of questioning because everybody expected this hearing was about the website. that is all we've been hearing is about the website but that is not the only complaint we've been hearing about since the affordable care act was adopted. we were told by our republican friends that millions of jobs would be lost. in fact there have been a gain of seven million jobs. they said that the costs for health care would skyrocket and in fact the opposite is true. they said there would be a massive shift to part-time jobs. the evidence doesn't support that. they said 10 of millions will lose their insurance but in fact everybody in this country is going to have access to health insurance because they won't be discriminated against. they said that it would explode the deficit. and yet all the reputable organizations like the congressional budget office have told us that it is going to save us $100 billion over 10 years. so we've had a litany of objections from the republic

mr. waxman's question, talking about the agreements. mr. may, let me come to you, and in mr. feld, i'm going to want to hear from you. do you think the fcc should do a pilot project? and test some of the ip networks to figure out how to make the transition easier for consumers, for businesses? where are you on the pilot project? >> i'm in favor of one but i have to say i probably don't need to be as delicate as mr. cicconi may need to be. i think the fcc has been a little slow i would say in getting these trials off the ground. so i would like to see them move quickly. and i think they would yield useful information. but i don't want to see them used over a long time of watching the fcc. sometimes i know when you start things like this they can be used in ways that delay ultimately the ultimate decision-making. that shouldn't be allowed to happen with these projects. you started out by mentioning the interconnection in the ip transition, and i just -- i said this in my testimony with regard to ip interconnection. i don't think that, and i'm just assumed will have the trial or

mr. waxman. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. the affordable care act is an enormous success, with one obvious exception. it has a poorly designed website. the law has already accomplished a lot. millions of americans, especially seniors, have saved hundreds of dollars on prescription drugs. young people have gotten health insurance coverage. families have received rebates from their insurance companies that use more than 20% for their overhead costs. preventative care is now a free benefit in medicare and private insurance. every day, we hear more stories of people saving thousands of dollars and finally getting the security of quality health insurance. what has not happened and what has not been successful is the early performance of the website. that has caused understandable frustration and anxiety as americans have tried to sign up for the coverage. the heart of the law is getting insurance coverage, private insurance coverage that others have who work for large employers like the federal government. democrats want healthcar

mr. waxman for four minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman.ad to smile at your line of questioning because everyone expected this hearing was about the website. that's all we've been hearing about is the website. but that's not the only complaint we've been hearing about since the affordable care act was adopted. we were told by our republican friends that millions of jobs would be lost and in fact there have been a gain of 7 million jobs. they said that the cost for health care would skyrocket and in fact the opposite is true. they said there would be a massive shift to part-time jobs and evidence doesn't support that. tens of millions will lose their insurance. in fact, everybody in this country is going to have access to health insurance because they won't be discriminated against. they said that it would explode the deficit and yet all of the reputable organizations like the congressional budget office have told us it will save us $100 billion over ten years. so we've had a litany of objections from the republicans about the affordable car

mr. waxman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. based on some of the testimony we heard today, one might think that we are evaluating a new network being built across the country, an ip network that runs on fiber lines and wireless airwaves. others suggest that this is no new network, but that new electronics that have been added to the copper and fiber infrastructure that has been transporting voice and data throughout the country for years. why are these distinctions important? if what we really care about are basic values like protecting consumers and competition, universal service and public safety, why does it matter what kind of infrastructure communications runs over? mr. feld, it is my understanding that google is currently planning to offer extremely fast internet access over new fiber networks being deployed in three communities. although consumers can sign up for video service to complement their internet access service, google is not offering a voice product. google has not been shy about stating that it is not offering

mr. waxman: would the gentleman yield to me? mr. kingston: yes. mr. waxman: let's fund all the government efforts, including the c.d.c. and n.i.h., not single one out. mr. kingston: i'll say this to my friend. a long journey begins with small steps. if we could take a few small .teps mr. waxman: fuppeding the government is one step we could take. mr. kingston: i yield one minute to the distinguished gentlewoman, former nurse from north carolina. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for ne minute from north carolina. mrs. ellmers: i thank the gentleman. i rise in support of the research for lifesaving cures act and i am funding of the n.i.h. and -- to help bring life-saving cures to sick americans. the situation here in washington today should not be standing in the way of this important life-saving work. there is no defensible argument against this legislation. n.i.h. has been in the forefront of biomedical discoveries that have revolutionized the field of medicine. these discoveries have laid the foundation for treatments and cures fo

mr. waxman, we're all committed to this. but may i remind my friends, 45% of the f.d.a. employees are on furlough. just today, four people in texas were arrested because of f.d.a. criminal investigators, they were trying to sell stem cell packages to sick people. vastated people that were -- it was fraud and inappropriate to terminally ill people. they was food and drug administration able to make the case and the u.s. attorney in my district said thank you. but right now, there are u.s. attorneys getting ready to lay off attorneys. the shouse on fire. let me share with you, there are usually 0 inspections on food facilities a day. they're not going on right now. up until october 17, there'll be 960 facilities not inspected and the only reason is because we will not come to the floor, put the clean c.r. on the floor, and have 195 plus 21 people vote in the majority to open the doors of this government. but more importantly have you heard the stories of families whose husband or wives are laid off, struggling to make ends meet, calling on relatives to help them. you heefe

mr. waxman, always sends us letters. i want to do this. i want to do that. we sent countless letters to the democrat majority at the time asking for hearings on the recently passed health care law. guess what, no hearings. so when speaker pelosi then said, we have to pass a bill before we know what's in it, we're finding out. we're finding out a flawed tech system that's a mockery. now, let's talk about this. i accept the premise that you tested your individual section. but we are getting to the point of the integrated system. when was the integrated system tested? starting with ms. campbell down to the end of the table, when was the integrated system tested? >> during the last two weeks in september. >> and what was the result of that? >> i don't have the results, you'd have to get that result fathers c.m.s. >> who would i have to go to to get that c.m.s.? who is your point of contact at c.m.s.? >> so there are a number of people. >> give me a name. >> henry chou. >> give me another name. >> ms. snyder. >> you got another one? >> peter -- peter oh. >> ok. m

mr. waxman for four minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman.ad to smile at your line of questioning because everyone expected this hearing was about the website. that's all we've been hearing about is the website. but that's not the only complaint we've been hearing about since the affordable care act was adopted. we were told by our republican friends that millions of jobs would be lost and in fact there have been a gain of 7 million jobs. they said that the cost for health care would skyrocket and in fact the opposite is true. they said there would be a massive shift to part-time jobs and evidence doesn't support that. tens of millions will lose their insurance. in fact, everybody in this country is going to have access to health insurance because they won't be discriminated against. they said that it would explode the deficit and yet all of the reputable organizations like the congressional budget office have told us it will save us $100 billion over ten years. so we've had a litany of objections from the republicans about the affordable car

mr. waxman, always sends us letters. i want to do this. i want to do that. we sent countless letters to the democrat majority at the time asking for hearings on the recently passed health care law. guess what, no hearings. so when speaker pelosi then said we have to pass a bill before we know what's in it, we're finding out. we're finding out a flawed tech system that's a mockery. now, let's talk about this. i accept the premise that you tested your individual section. but we are getting to the point of the integrated system. when was the integrated system tested? starting with ms. campbell down to the end of the table, when was the integrated system tested? >> during the last two weeks in september. >> and what was the result of that? >> i don't have the results you'd have to get that result from c.m.s. >> who would i have to go to to get that c.m.s.? who is your point of contact at c.m.s.? >> so there are a number of people. >> give me a name. >> henry chou. >> give me another name. >> michelle snyder. >> you got another one? >> peter -- peter oh. >> ok. m

mr. waxman. >> thank you mr. chairman. since the days of the black rotary phone, americans have been able to count on the phone network to call friends and family come conduct business and reach emergency services when needed a. today thanks to innovation and competition consumers can connect to the phone network in more ways than ever before. when we pick up a wider list smartphone or dial in number over voice-over internet pravachol service, few of us pause to consider the technology why we simply expect our phone calls to go through. there is a technical backdrop for today's hearing. but our phone network is more than a system of wires, switches and technical protocols. is a part of the social and economic fabric of the united states. as we consider this network evolution we must continue to protect the core values that have guided our communications policy for nearly a century. many of today's witnesses have articulated some version of these values and there is widespread agreement on principles. our commitment to univ

mr. waxman. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. the affordable care act is an enormous success with one obvious exception. it has a poorly designed website. the law has already accomplished a lot. of americans, especially seniors, have saved hundreds of dollars on prescription drugs. young people have gotten health insurance coverage. families have received rebates from their insurance companies that use more than 20% for their overhead costs. preventative care is now a free benefit in medicare and private insurance. we hear more stories of people saving thousands of getting thefinally security of quality health insurance. what has not happened and what has not been successful is the early performance of the website. that has caused understandable asstration and anxiety americans have tried to sign up for the coverage. law is hittinge insurance coverage, private insurance coverage that others have who work for large employers like the federal government. democrats want health care -- to work.e.gov we want to know what is wrong with

mr. waxman from california. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. the act act iaffordable care ac. the law has accomplished a lot. millions of americans, especially seen years have saved money on prescription drugs. young people have gotten health care coverage. millions of families have received rebates from their insurance companies that use more than 20% for their overhead costs. preventive care is now a free benefit in medicare, and private insurance. every day, we hear more stories of people saving thousands of dollars and finally getting the security of quality health insurance. what hasn't happened and what has not been successful is the early performance of the website, and that has caused understandable frustration and anxiety, as americans have tried to sign up for the coverage. the heart of the law is getting insurance coverage, private insurance coverage that others have or worked for large employers like the federal government. democrats want health care.gov o work. we want to learn what is wrong and how to fix it. we want to learn what the contractors can tell us abou

mr. waxman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. as we evaluate the problems with this website, i think it's important that we focus on the facts. my republican colleagues have been predicting that health care reform would be a disaster for three years now and every time they've been wrong. they said insurance rates would skyrocket. in fact, they're lower than predicted. they said health care costs would soar. in fact, they've grown at a record low rate. >> do you think it will be available to them? >> i do, sir. >> why are you so confident? can you explain that these problems will be fixed in time. >> because as i said, we're seeing improvements day over day. we're continuing to run queries against our database. we're running -- reviewing system logs. we're fine tuning our servers. we are analyzing the codes for anomalies. every day we're finding challenges in the system and making those corrections. as you would with any system that will go live. when a system goes into production, these are the things you would typically find aft

mr. waxman asked a question, you said you had confidence that whatever problems exist in the federal data system or website that they would be fixed by december 15 and you expect that the millions of uninsured people and others who are trying to enroll would be able to by then so their insurance would be effective january 1. was that my understanding? >> that's correct. >> the data hub that your company set up is working well to connect to the federal data when residents of those states apply. what i'm asking is if i go through new york or california or some of the other states that have responsible governors that have set up these state exchanges, unlike mine in new jersey, that if you do that or you go through the 1800 number or you go through the other means that you can to apply in person, that they can access the hub, is that correct no. >> that is correct. >> ok. i'm just trying to point out to my colleagues the success of all the state exchanges and again, a lot of people are being able to enroll. i think the figures show when state governors work to expand medicaid and work to mak

mr. waxman. >> i am pleased secretary sebelius is here today to discuss the affordable care act just like with medicare part d, the launch of the new website has not gone well. just like medicare part d, the early glitches in this roll out will soon be forgotten. a lot of discussion today will focus on that website. this is an important issue and i want to learn what the secretary can tell us about the problems being experienced and how they will be fixed, but we should keep this issue in perspective. the affordable care act is working. it has been improving the security of millions of americans for the past three years. because of the affordable care act, more than 7 million people on medicare have saved more than $8 billion on their prescription drugs. more than 100 million americans have accessed free preventive coverage. no longer face lifetime limits on their coverage. over 10 million americans have received rebates from insurance companies and finally this january the worst abusers of insurance industry will be halted. never again will a family be denied coverage because their child

mr. waxman. is that okay? otherwise we will -- they'll be a lot of folks who will not be allowed to ask questions at all. >> and i would submit that if the questions get submitted we would be happy to provide timely answers. >> with that, we'll try two minutes. >> i guess i won the lottery on the two minutes, madame secretary. >> time is expired. okay. >> 20 seconds, mr. chairman. on the weeb site, madame secretary, the contractors testified last week that they needed more than two weeks for end to end testing. why, in your opinion, was there not more than two weeks? >> again, we had products, insurance policies themselves by companies were loaded into the system. so we could test up until then. but it wasn't until september, mid-september, that that was done. and again, the contractors said we would have loved more testing time, but we think we're ready to go ahead. >> i believe that will ultimately be a dispute between cms and hhs and contractors. and if there's anything we can do regarding that, because obv

mr. waxman. is that okay? because otherwise we will -- there will be a lot of folks who will not be able to ask a question at all. >> three of us. >> mr. chairman, i would submit that if the questions get submitted we would be happy to provide timely answers also. >> so can i do that? so with that we'll try two minutes. mr. lance? >> i guess i won the lottery on the two minutes, madam secretary. >> time has expired. >> 20 seconds, mr. chairman. on the website, madam secretary, the contractors testified last week that they needed more than two weeks for end to end testing y in your opinion was there not more than two weeks? >> again, we have products, the insurance policies themselves by companies. we're loaded into the system. so we could test up until then but it wasn't until september, mid-september that that was done. again, the contractors said we would have loved more testing time but we think we're ready to go ahead. >> i believe that will ultimately be a dispute between cms and hhs and the contractors an

mr. waxman. is that okay? because otherwise we will -- there will be a lot of folks who will not be able to ask a question at all. >> three of us? >> mr. chairman, if the questions get submitted, we would be happy to provide timely answers also. >> so can i do that? so with that we'll try two minutes. mr. lance. >> i guess i've won the lottery on the two minutes. madam secretary. >> time has expired, okay. >> 20 seconds, mr. chairman. on the website, madam secretary, the contractors testified last week that they needed more than two weeks for end-to-end testing. why in your opinion was there not more than two weeks? >> again, we had products -- the insurance policies themselves by companies were loaded into the system so we could test up until then but it wasn't until september, mid-september that that was done and again the contractors said we would have loved more testing time but we think we're ready to go ahead. >> i believe that will ultimately be a dispute between cms and hhs and the contractors, and if t

mr. waxman but -- is that okay? se, we will -- there'll be a lot of folks who will not be able to ask a question at all. >> mr. chairman, i would submit to, if the questions again submitted, we would be happy to provide timely answers, also. >> okay. >> to make sure -- >> can i do that? so with that, we'll try two minutes. mr. lentz. >> i guess i've won the lottery on the two minutes. [ laughter ] madam secretary. >> time is expired. no good. [ laughter ] >> 20 seconds, mr. chairman. on the website, madam secretary, the contractors testified last week that they needed more than two weeks for end-to-end testing. why, in your opinion, was there not more than two weeks? >> again, we had products, the insurance policies themselves by companies, were loaded into the system, so we could test up until then, but it wasn't until september, mid-september that that was done. again, the contractor said we would have loved more testing time, but we think we're ready to go ahead. >> i believe that will ultimately be a dispute betw

mr. waxman. >> we would be happy to provide timely answers. >> with that we will try two minutes. >> i guess have won the lottery on the two minutes. [laughter] twenty seconds, mr. chairman. on the website, madame secretary, the contractors testified last week that they needed more than two weeks for end-to-end testing. why in your opinion what is there not more than two weeks? >> we have the insurance policies and companies were loaded into the system we could test up until then but it wasn't until september -- mid-september, that that was done. they said that we would've loved more testing time but we think that we are ready to go ahead. >> i believe that that will be a dispute between ms and hhs and if there's anything we can do regarding that. because obviously that didn't work. and obviously the website would be ready. and in my judgment, the president's statements were overstatements and is an indication of that. there is a report in the newspapers that 800,000 people in new jersey purchased their policies and individual or small employer markets amount will be affected by this. the pr

mr. waxman: i rise as a member of the safe climate caucus to address the important issue of climate change. e.p.a. reported some good news today. carbon pollution from power plants has dropped 10% from 2010 to 2012. some of this drop was due to fuel switching from coal to natural gas, which is less polluting. some was due to increased energy efficiency and some was due to growth in clean, renewable sources of electricity like wind and solar. our challenge is to continue these reductions, market forces alone will not be enough. the energy department says that carbon pollution has crept up this year as coal prices fell and usage increased. that's why we need the new regulations proposed by e.p.a. to limit carbon pollution from new power plants and that's why we need limits on pollution from existing power plants. the history of the clean air act has shown us we can have both a strong economy and clean air. our health, our environment, and our economic prosperity depends on developing the clean energy technologies of the future. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady fr

mr. waxman. is that okay? because otherwise we will, the there will be a lot of folks who will not be able to ask a question at all. >> three of us. >> mr. chairman, i would submit to if the questions, get submitted we would be happy to provide timely answers as well. >> can i do that? so with that, we'll try two minutes?? >> mr. lance. i guess i won -- >> i guess i won lottery on two minutes, madam secretary. >> time has expired. >> 20 seconds, mr. chairman. on the website, madam secretary, the contractors testified last week that they needed more than two weeks for end to end testing. why in your opinion was there not more than two weeks? >> again, we had products, the insurance policies themselves by companies were loaded into the system. so we had, we could test up until then but it wasn't until september, mid september that was done. and again the contractors said we would have loved more testing time but we think we're ready to go ahead. >> i believe that ultimately will be a dispute between cm s&h hs and

mr. waxman. >> thank you. i'm pleased secretary sebelius is here today. she's here to discuss the affordable care act just like with medicare part d, the launch of the new website has not gone well. but just like medicare part d, the early glitches in this rollout will soon be forgotten. a lot of the discussion today will focus on that website. this is an important issue and i want to learn what the secretary can tell us about the problems being experienced and how they will be fixed. but we should keep this issue in perspective. the affordable care act is working. it has been improving the health security of millions of americans for the past three years. because of the affordable care act, more than 7 million people on medicare have saved more than $8 billion on their prescription drugs. more than 100 million americans have access to free preventive coverage. and no longer face life time limits on their coverage. over 10 million americans have received rebates from insurance companies. and finally, this january, the worst abuses of the insurance industr

mr. waxman. but i do agree we need to move on a test. we need to move forward. to the comments on google, probably on here listening i would encourage them to come in because my guess it is 251 and 252 why they are not in the voice. that is what my guess is. if you talk to them and they've given you that data but i think there's interconnection issues, it's very informative that they are not doing that and i think that is a lesson that we should learn and find out. having said that, just a blanket statement and i know the fcc is looking into the drop calls in the areas are an issue and that talks about a backstop. that also reinforces an issue of having some type of backstop. so i want to raise that. but to mr. feld and mr. cicconi, public safety is a big issue for all of us here. we work very closely on this. in this moved, how do you envision public safety being positively or hopefully not - -- we won't accept any negative response on public safety so how do we deal with that? why don't we start with mr. cicconi and then go to mr. feld. >> i hate, mr. shimkus,

mr. waxman and most of those on the democrat side think things are great. you apparently although you did apologize and you have said it's a debacle, you also seem to think that the affordable care act is great. myself and others have a different view. ultimately the american people will decide. now, last week when the contractors were here, i focused my attention on the apparent lack of privacy in the website. if we'll put up the first slide that i had last week. if we can. this is what is public, madame secretary. it's basically a disclaimer that says any unauthorized attempt to upload information or change information on the website is prohibited. it really doesn't say anything about privacy. you do have to accept that in order to go forward with the application. the next slide shows what's not public. this is in the source code. we tried to determine this morning if it was still in the source code but pointed out the website is down. this is much more frightening to me. it says you have no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding any communication or

mr. chairman, congressman waxman and other distinguished members of the committee.name is john lau and i am the contractor for cms contract in connection with the aca. thank you for the opportunity to again appear and discuss cisercs current status of this program. the current view in the program and the current status of our work. serco's contract is to provide eligibility support services in support of the paper application processing as well as error and issue resolution regardless in the mode in which the consumer submitted them. it's important, i think, to clarify that we have no role in the development of the website. we have no role in the termination of eligibility and we have no role in health plan selection. i think there has been some confusion about that. i would like to make sure that that's clear. our primary role in the early days of this implementation is to key role into this system. as time goes on, more of our work will entail to clear previously submitted applications for the eligibility determination process. data verification and validation of

mr. slavic. >> chairman upton, ranking member waxman and members of the committee, good morning.y slavic, group vice president at optimum. the qssi, one of the contractors working in the online marketplaces. let me begin by saying -- >> this hearing now of the contractor. been dipping in and out here of the health care hearing here. the contractor is testifying. they're doing their opening statements. we gave a preview earlier. let's bring in our thursday gaggle, contributing writing, gonzalez. democratic strategist, emily tissue us isman and jim garrity. let me start with you, nathan. i think the more interesting thing with this hearing today is going to be how house democrats treat these guys. we know what the agenda of the house republicans are on some of this stuff. but how will democratic frustration that's clearly starting to percolate, how is it going to express itself in some of these questions? >> i think it's definitely a fluid situation. i think you're starting to see more democrats, starting with senator shaheen, senator pryor, maybe talking a little bit more about de

mr. obama would not do that. >> right now secretary sebelius is listening to henry waxman who likely is giving her praise. although there is bipartisan it seems anger that he website has not rolled out as sterling as the white house would have wanted. we have also a guest in the studio who can provide incite on how we go to this point. and we're also joined by jason jeffries, the founder and ceo of blender box, an agency that specializes in websites. can this be fixed? >> yes, absolutely. if the issues are related to flaws and errors in the logic, that might take some more time. >> and jenny regardless of which side of the political aisle you may be sitting on, by all arguments this has been a nightmare politically for the obama administration. >> absolutely. and one of the problems here is that we really need toe secretary to come out today and acknowledge that. i think that's really the thing she has to do and provide more specifics than her colleague did yesterday. and the big problem president obama has is he is in a no-win situation. if you listen to the calls that she be removed, who do you replace