Health Care Report New Problems for White House

Page of Obamacare website which has been temporarily closed down for maintenance. The has had problems since going online in October 2013., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

THE MORNING LINE -- NOVEMBER 19, 2013 AT 9:05 AM ET

Health care report new problem for White House

BY: CHRISTINA BELLANTONI AND TERENCE BURLIJ
PBS News Hour

Insurance agents with Sunshine Life and Health Advisors in Hialeah, Florida help people with information about insurance policies under the Affordable Care Act . Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Another day, another rough patch for the Affordable Care Act.

House Republicans released documents suggesting that President Barack Obama's White House had early and direct warnings about the anticipated problems with HealthCare.gov, and new poll figures find Mr. Obama at the lowest point in his presidency.

The Morning Line

A Washington Post-ABC survey indicated that some voters might even be rethinking their 2012 choice in the presidential race.

The poll found 49 percent of respondents said they would vote for Republican nominee Mitt Romney if the election were held today, and 45 percent said they would back Mr. Obama.

Opposition to the 2010 law, upheld in 2012 by the Supreme Court, also reached a record high in the survey, with 57 percent opposing the Affordable Care Act. Of those, 46 percent are "strongly" against it. That's down from a survey one month ago, before the website rollout went awry, when the public was about split.

The Post's Dan Balz and Peyton M. Craighill write that the problems are spilling over as lawmakers approach the 2014 midterm elections, in addition to putting the president's second-term agenda in jeopardy.

The health-care law has become a political burden for elected officials who support it. Almost four in 10 Americans say they are more likely to oppose a politician who backs the legislation, while just over a fifth say they would be more likely to support such a politician. That's the biggest gap recorded in Post-ABC polling during the entire debate over the law.

And Obama is the chief target. His overall approval rating has fallen to 42 percent, having dropped six percentage points in a month, and equals his record low in Post-ABC polls. His disapproval rating stands at 55 percent, which is the worst of his presidency. Forty-four percent say they strongly disapprove of the way he is handling his job, also the worst of his presidency.

The damage to the president raises questions about whether improvements to the law alone could boost his standing significantly and, if not, the implications for the rest of his second-term agenda. White House officials have said they recognize that the president's problems will not be cured quickly. They think that as the health-care Web site improves and as the economy grows, he will recover. For now, however, as support for the law drops, so, too, does Obama's standing.

And a Gallup poll found 56 percent saying that ensuring Americans have health coverage is not the responsibility of the federal government, while 42 percent of respondents said they believed the government is responsible for making sure all Americans have insurance.

The Washington Post was the first to post the news Monday that the Obama administration brought in a private consulting team to independently assess how the federal online health care enrollment system was developing. McKinsey and Co. warned as early as late March about likely problems with the online hub for insurance exchanges set to open Oct. 1.

House Republicans told the Post that the McKinsey report was provided to senior officials at the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services over four briefings between March 28 and April 8.

The New York Times' Sharon LaFraniere and Eric Lipton have more detail about the report, prepared at HHS' request. It suggests "management indecision and a 'lack of transparency and alignment on critical issues' were threatening progress, despite the tight deadline," they write.

From the story:

The McKinsey report found that the effort was at risk because of issues including "significant dependency on external parties/contractors," as well as "insufficient time and scope of end-to-end testing," and "parallel stacking of all phases," all predictions that have turned out to be accurate.

Briefings on the report were held in the spring at the White House and at the headquarters of the Health and Human Services Department and for leaders at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, congressional investigators said.

For his part, the president on Monday night joined supporters on a conference call organized by the Organizing for Action spinoff of his re-election campaign.

He spoke for 12 minutes, and sounded "subdued," but defended the rollout and said the GOP hasn't been helpful, writes Justin Sink of The Hill. From his story:

"The good news is it's getting better every single week," Obama said. "I am confident that by the end of this month it is going to be functioning for the vast majority of folks."

The president conceded that the botched rollout "created and fed a lot of this misinformation" about the law. He said that some individuals would still need to be enrolled by phone or in person, even after repairs to the website were complete. And he accused Republicans of complicating efforts to get the program off the ground.

"Obviously, we haven't been getting a lot of cooperation from the other party," he said.

Obama encouraged supporters to talk face-to-face with neighbors, friends, and family members about the law. He also suggested that proponents of ObamaCare should use holiday parties and family gatherings to encourage their loved ones to purchase insurance.

"We have to remember the conversations we're having around the dinner table," Obama said.

Politico's Reid Epstein notices a shift in the president's terminology, with the word "Obamacare" not popping up as much.

At a fundraiser for Senate Democrats Monday, First Lady Michelle Obama applauded her husband's work in passing the Affordable Care Act, but didn't delve into the problems plaguing the White House on the issue over the last month.

Vice President Joe Biden addressed HealthCare.gov Monday when chatting with volunteers working to help people sign up for health insurance. "The truth is, we're going to fix it," Mr. Biden said, according to a pool report. He added: "God willing."

All of these issues will receive a fresh look Tuesday on Capitol Hill when Medicare officials testify at a House subcommittee hearing.

The NewsHour profiled a Colorado family that has been living without insurance, forcing them to avoid care and pay for medical expenses out of pocket. They are now able to afford a health care plan under the Affordable Care Act. We also spoke with Julie Rovner of NPR about how tax subsidies are helping families get coverage.