Following the resignation of her second-in-command in January, the official in charge of the Obamacare health insurance reform, Marilyn Tavenner announced that she will be stepping down from her position as administrator of the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS). Taking effect at the end of February, her resignation follows a turbulent 5-year career full of challenges, difficult decisions, and a little bit of controversy that may give us a clue as to why she resigned.
Let’s look back at a brief timeline of her career…
– Following the resignation of Dr. Donald M. Berwick in Dec. 2011, she stepped in as acting administrator of the CMS
– Officially confirmed as administrator in May of 2013
– Helmed the issue-ridden launch of HealthCare.gov, the online portal for the Affordable Care Act’s healthcare markets
– Allegedly tempered with statistics related to Obamacare, possibly prompting her resignation
In an email to the CMS staff informing her peers of her resignation, she expressed mixed emotions about having to leave, but that she was sad to see so many of her long-time co-workers go. She also spoke on the challenges her and her team faced, and applauded her co-workers for rising to the occasion, saying, “With those changes came a whole new set of responsibilities and a spotlight that brightly shown on all of us, but with your hard work, dedication, commitment and resolve, you cleared the path and laid out a plan for all that we needed to accomplish. As a result, you are truly transforming healthcare in this country.”
Accused of skewing Obamacare facts and figures for the year of 2014, she was often attacked by Republican members of the House Oversight Committee who blamed her for a miscount that drove the 2014 Obamacare health insurance enrollment numbers over the 7 million benchmark. While some figures were double-counted, evidence has yet to emerge proving that she was responsible, but many have made the assumption based on the fact that she was the administrator of the CMS.
Representing skeptical parties is Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), administrator of the staff that identified the miscount. In a statement made to The Hill, he wrote, “Tavenner had to go. She presided over HHS as it deceptively padded the Obamacare enrollment numbers. It was a deplorable example of an agency trying to scam the American people. They weren’t successful this time because of Congressional oversight. We deserve better.”
Now, with a more functional HealthCare.gov, we can look back and thank Tavenner for sticking with her administration for as long as she had. With the Affordable Care Act, the nation’s biggest Medicaid expansion that’s ever occurred, and the disastrous launch of HealthCare.gov, all we can say is that she had to fill some tall orders and, for now, it seems like her actions are making a positive impact overall.
If you want to avoid the fee for not having health insurance, don’t forget to go over to HealthCare.gov and sign up before open enrollment ends on the 15th!
Do you think that Tavenner knowingly doctored the Obamacare statistics for 2014? How do you think Obamacare will affect America in the long run? Share your predictions with us in the comments section below!
