Timeline of botched ObamaCare rollout

It’s been a rough stretch for the Obama administration, and it doesn’t look to get any better any time soon.

A month after Republicans suffered a massive political hit because of the government shutdown, the White House is now taking a beating.

{mosads}The following is a timeline of the administration’s rollout of ObamaCare.

Sept. 26: Obama said, “…most of the stories you’ll hear about how ObamaCare just can’t work is just not based on facts. Every time they have predicted something not working, it’s worked.”

Sept. 27: Obama said, “Those marketplaces will be open for business on Tuesday, no matter what, even if there’s a government shutdown. That’s a done deal.”

Oct. 1: People begin shopping for health insurance on HealthCare.gov, but the site crashes.

Oct. 1: Obama said, “Now, like every new law, every new product rollout, there are going to be some glitches in the signup process along the way that we will fix. I’ve been saying this from the start. For example, we found out that there have been times this morning where the site has been running more slowly than it normally will.”

Oct. 16: Government shutdown ends.

Oct. 21: Obama makes a speech in the White House Rose Garden to discuss the ObamaCare website as well as explaining the enrollment process.

Oct. 24: Federal contractors who worked on administration blamed the administration for its decision to allow people to create accounts before they could browse health plans.

Oct. 27: A malfunction brought the ObamaCare website down.

 Oct. 28: Amid reports of people losing their insurance coverage, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) introduces a bill, the Keep Your Health Plan Act of 2013, which would allow people to keep their health plans.

Oct. 29: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee on the failed launch of the ObamaCare website and assures the public that the website can be fixed.

Oct. 30: Obama said, “Now if you had one of these substandard plans before the Affordable Care Act became law and you really liked that plan, you were able to keep it. That’s what I said when I was running for office. That was part of the promise we made. But ever since the law was passed, if insurers decided to downgrade or cancel these substandard plans, what we said under the law is, you’ve got to replace them with quality, comprehensive coverage because that too was a central premise of the Affordable Care Act from the very beginning.”

Oct. 31: The ObamaCare website crashes for the second time in a week — during Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. 

Oct. 31: Sebelius tells the House Energy and Commerce panel: “Hold me accountable for the debacle. I’m responsible.”

Oct. 31: Julie Bataille, director of communications for CMS, announced in a blog that the ObamaCare website team was bringing personnel from companies such as Google, Red Hat and Oracle to contribute to the ongoing maintenance of the site. 

Oct 31: House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) issues a subpoena to Sebelius over the ObamaCare website technical problems, and says in a statement, “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.”

Nov. 3: HHS announces the site will undergo maintenance every night until improvements are made to the site. 

Nov. 4: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) introduces a bill, titled the Keeping the Affordable Care Act Promise Act, which would allow people to keep their health plans. 

Nov. 4: The enrollment and application system for the ObamaCare website crashed for 90 minutes after an overload of a small amount of servers.

Nov. 5: Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, issues a subpoena to the CMS for the ObamaCare enrollment data, saying to administration officials, “Congress needs to know what you know so Congress, the American people’s representatives, can also take corrective action.”

Nov. 6: Sebelius admits that it was possible convicted felons could be hired as ObamaCare “navigators,” giving them access to personal information such as Social Security numbers and addresses of anyone signing up for the program.

Nov. 7: Obama apologizes for making promises that he couldn’t keep. He tells Chuck Todd of MSNBC, “I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me.”

Nov. 9: Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) rips the president on his broken promise: “I think the president was grossly misleading to the American public.” 

Nov. 12: Former President Bill Clinton says in an interview, “I personally believe, even if it takes a change in the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they’ve got.

Nov. 12: House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said, “I think the president was not precise, and I think that, he should have been precise. We all should have been more precise.” He added, “We knew that there would be some policies that would not qualify, and therefore people would be required to get more extensive coverage.”

Nov. 13: HHS releases figures for ObamaCare enrollment for the first time, estimating around 106,185 people have enrolled in a plan, with only about 26,794 enrolling through the federal website. 

Nov. 14: Obama announced in a press briefing that people whose plans were canceled or going to be canceled can keep their plan or re-enroll for 2014. He said, “It’s legitimate to expect us to have win back some credibility on this healthcare law and other issues … we fumbled the rollout.”

Nov. 14: Some Senate Democrats announce their moving forward with legislation beyond Obama’s one-year proposal, with Mark Begich (D-Alaska) saying, “We’re moving forward on the legislation…I’d make it permanent if I could but I’m thinking at least two years should be on the table.”

Nov. 14: Obama threatens a veto of the Upton legislation; House Democratic leaders opt not to whip against it.

Nov. 15: The House passes Upton bill, 261-157. Thirty-nine Democrats defect.