The punch list for fixing HealthCare.gov has been identified and the fixes to have the system "running smoothly" will be done by the end of November,
according to Josh Zeints, the former Office of Management and Budget official President Obama has put in charge of fixing the website. These developments were announced in a conference call the administration held with reporters Friday.
When asked on the conference call exactly who had advised the administration on its assessment, officials would not reveal names. Another question is what exactly the administration means by "running smoothly." Officials declined to give too many specifics on that question, as well. [...]
Still, the assessment Zients gave over the phone was more candid and detailed than any public accounts administration officials had given previously. He acknowledged, for example, that high volume was one source of trouble for the site—but only one of many. He also explained that the site had two separate series of problems. One group consists of “performance problems”—the issues consumers have encountered, like seeing error messages, delays, and crashes. The other group consists of “functional” issues, which are “bugs” that prevent software from working the way it’s supposed to work. An example of this would be the erroneous data reports that healthcare.gov (like some of the state-run exchanges) have been delivering to insurance companies. Zeints said that problem was at the top of a “punch list” of tasks that need to get done.
Getting the system running before the end of November, if not sooner, is critical. People have to purchase insurance by Dec. 15 if they want their coverage to start on Jan. 1. That's millions of the uninsured in the 36 state relying on the federal exchange. Zeints said that HHS has already completed a number of fixes that have increased the performance of the site, allowing about 90 percent of would-be customers to create accounts.