Sebelius Names Administration Veteran to Lead Tech Repair Efforts WASHINGTON - The Obama administration did not look far for someone to lead the so-called tech surge to fix its troubled health insurance Web site: Jeffrey D. Zients, a management trouble-shooter already in line to take over as the chief White House economic adviser on Jan. 1, until then will manage the effort to resolve the technical failures. President Obama's health and human services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, on Tuesday announced Mr. Zients's appointment, as well as the recruitment of unidentified others - "experts and specialists drawn from within government, our contractors and industry, including veterans of top Silicon Valley companies" - to fix HealthCare.gov. She did not name or even enumerate the others, nor did the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, under questioning from reporters. The hasty enlistment of the new team comes as Mr. Obama has been forced to answer personally for the technological hurdles and breakdowns facing untold numbers of Americans as they have sought to enroll in health insurance plans through the online insurance exchange since it opened on Oct. 1. Mr. Zients is a former corporate executive who joined the administration in 2009 as the nation's first chief performance officer, responsible at the Office of Management and Budget for ensuring that federal agencies and departments operate efficiently, including by making the best use of technology. Later, he twice was Mr. Obama's acting budget director and was considered for other senior administration positions, including trade representative, before leaving the administration last April. Before 2009, Mr. Zients was an executive at corporate-management and media companies and at his own private-equity firm, Portfolio Logic. In the administration, he helped remedy problems where public demand for a benefit or service overwhelmed the government staff and computer systems - on new G.I. Bill benefits and a Cash-for-Clunkers stimulus program in 2009, for example - but nothing so technologically problematic as the HealthCare.gov site. In her announcement, Ms. Sebelius said that "working alongside our team and using his rich expertise and management acumen, Jeff will provide short-term advice, assessments and recommendations." The White House wants to have the computer system fixed by Dec. 15, when people can begin writing checks for insurance coverage purchased through the exchanges. Last month, Mr. Obama announced that Mr. Zients would join the White House in the new year as director of the National Economic Council, replacing Gene B. Sperling.