The launch of HealthCare.gov — the federal health insuranceexchange website mandated by the Patient Protection and AffordableCare Act — went live Oct. 1. So many problems plagued the site thatit prompted Congress to hold hearings about it in late October,with House GOP members demanding answers from involved parties thatranged from site contractors to Department of Health and HumanServices Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Experts outlined many of these issues in the September BenefitsSelling cover story “SystemFailure,” which predicted the project's schedulingchallenges, necessary system interfaces and user experiences couldlead to problems. But the scope of them went far beyond the site'sinability to process complex individual applications, as evidencedby the software crashes that rendered HealthCare.gov inaccessibleto users.

Not only that, but enrollment numbers recently released by HHS fell short of expectations.Nearly 27,000 people signed up for private health insurance thoruhgHealthCare.gov one month into enrollment.