Gibbs: WH must be clear on O-Care site

The White House must be more “forthcoming” about technical issues with the back end of the ObamaCare website and admit whether information about consumers trying to buy insurance has been properly transmitted, former press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.

“I think the pressure now will be on the administration to be more forthcoming about what’s happening on the back end,” Gibbs told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

The former White House spokesman’s comments came after The New York Times reported on Sunday that many of the systems designed to deliver personal information about enrollees to insurers remained unresolved, despite the administration’s self-imposed Dec. 1 deadline for the website to work. 

{mosads}Over the weekend, the administration released a report claiming “dramatic progress” on the website and arguing “we believe we have met the goal” of making the website work for a vast majority of users.

But Karen M. Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, told the Times that insurers were still receiving inaccurate and incomplete data from the government about individuals attempting to purchase insurance.

“Until the enrollment process is working from end to end, many consumers will not be able to enroll in coverage,” Ignagni warned.

On Monday, Gibbs said that the website “has to work for both the administration and the insurance companies.”

“The administration has to work with the insurance companies to make sure that information is being transmitted correctly, not duplicitously, not leaving out critical information, so when you click ‘buy’ or ‘purchase’ on the website you’re actually enrolling in the insurance,” Gibbs said.

Earlier this year, Gibbs made waves when he encouraged the president to “fire some people” over the botched rollout of the ObamaCare website.