Senate confirms Burwell as health secretary
(CNN) - The Senate confirmed Sylvia Mathews Burwell as the next health secretary on Thursday, paving the way for new leadership at the agency heavily criticized for the rocky rollout of Obamacare.
Lawmakers voted 78-17 in confirming Burwell, 48, who was previously White House budget director.
Filed under: 2014 • HHS • Kathleen Sebelius • Obamacare • Sylvia Mathews Burwell
Senate Democrats upbeat about confirming Burwell
CNN's Dana Bash and Ted Barrett
(CNN) - Senate Democrats are upbeat about the prospects for confirming Sylvia Mathews Burwell as the next Health and Human Services secretary, several Democratic aides told CNN on Friday.
While they recognize Republicans will use the confirmation process to highlight problems about the Obamacare rollout, Democrats believe they can close the chapter on the troubled tenure of Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and open a new one with Burwell.
Filed under: Healthcare • HHS • Kathleen Sebelius • Sylvia Mathews Burwell
Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius resigning
(CNN) - Kathleen Sebelius is resigning as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a White House official said Thursday.
President Barack Obama intends to nominate Sylvia Burwell, current director of the Office of Management and Budget, to replace Sebelius, according to the official.
Filed under: HHS • Kathleen Sebelius • Obama administration
CMS call: Latest HealthCare.gov glitch resolved, Obama administration says
(CNN) – The Obama administration said on Monday it had resolved the latest technical glitch with the HealthCare.gov website, one that hit over the weekend and prevented people from enrolling properly in new policies under Obamacare.
Everyone who has selected a plan from a private insurer through the Obamacare marketplace now should be in direct contact with an insurer to resolve billing and payment, according to the agency responsible for overseeing the website.
Filed under: Healthcare • HHS • Obamacare
Report: Thousands of HealthCare.gov enrollment records haven't reached insurers, but inaccuracies declining
Updated 12/14/2013 at 3:01 p.m. ET
(CNN) – The Obama administration said Saturday that the rate of inaccuracies in a key enrollment records from HealthCare.gov is declining, but a federal analysis shows about 15,000 consumer sign up forms were never sent to insurance companies due to technical problems with the website.
Following the botched rollout of HealthCare.gov, the online enrollment tool for Americans to sign up for health insurance, Obama administration officials vowed to get the site working for the vast majority of users.
Filed under: Health care • HHS • Obamacare
Obamacare sign-ups hit 365,000, but there's a long way to go
CNNMoney.com Senior Writer Tami Luhby
New York (CNNMoney) - Nearly 365,000 people have signed up for Obamacare in its first two months, but that's still a far cry from the 7 million projected to ultimately enroll for 2014.
The pace of sign-ups accelerated in November after the Obama administration worked to solve technical problems with healthcare.gov. Officials say there has been an even bigger increase in traffic in recent weeks.
Filed under: HHS • Obamacare
Administration says to expect higher November enrollment
CNN White House Producer Kevin Liptak
Washington (CNN) - November insurance plan enrollment on the federal HealthCare.gov website is expected to be higher than the previous month's numbers, the Obama administration said Monday.
Final November numbers, still being prepared for a mid-December release, will show more Americans enrolled while a massive effort took place to repair the website.
The Obamacare question: Can the website handle the volume?
Washington (CNN) - A moment of truth approaches for President Barack Obama's signature health care reforms with Saturday's self-imposed deadline to get the website to work properly for most users.
Obama and officials in charge of HealthCare.gov say the "vast majority" of people who go to the website to sign up at the end of the month will have a much improved experience than the crashes, error messages and delays users faced when it launched October 1.
Extended: Obamacare enrollment deadline for January 1 coverage
CNN's Z. Byron Wolf
Updated 3:15 p.m. ET, 11/22/2013
(CNN) – The Obama administration announced Friday that the Department of Health and Human Services will extend a key Obamacare deadline by one week.
Americans can now sign up through December 23 in order to have health coverage start on January 1, according to Julie Bataille, a spokeswoman for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Private consulting firm warned of glitches before healthcare.gov launch
CNN Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta and CNN's Dana Davidsen
(CNN) – A newly disclosed report indicates that officials in the Obama administration and the Department of Health and Human Services received warnings from a private consultant group that the federal online healthcare enrollment site could potentially fail to function properly for the October 1 launch date.
The analysis by McKinsey & Company was requested by the White House. It identified various problems with the exchange, including limited testing time and resources before the launch, and found that call-in centers wouldn't function properly if the website malfunctioned.
Filed under: Healthcare • HHS • Kathleen Sebelius • Obama administration