The senior Republican on the Senate health committee, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tn.), on Monday introduced a bill requiring the administration to provide weekly reports on the Obamacare exchanges and said he would ask Tuesday for unanimous passage of the bill.
Senator Alexander said, “Before the Internet, RCA knew how many records Elvis was selling every day. Before the Internet, Ford knew how many cars they were selling every day. Before the Internet, McDonald’s could tell you how many hamburgers it had sold each day. Yet the Obama administration cannot tell us how many Americans have tried to sign up for Obamacare.”
The Exchange Information Disclosure Act would require the Obama administration to provide weekly reports to Congress, states, and the public about the 36 federally run exchanges, including easily tracked data such as the number of individuals who have visited the site and the number who have successfully enrolled, their zip code, and the level of coverage they’ve obtained. The reports would also be required to contain information on the department’s efforts to resolve the site’s widespread technical problems.
Senator Alexander said, “With Wikileaks and Edward Snowden spilling our beans every day, what’s happening on the Obamacare exchanges is the only secret left in Washington. The National Security Administration should learn some lessons from Secretary Sebelius.”
Senator Alexander said he would ask Tuesday for senators to unanimously consent to passage of the bill, saying: “It’s a six-page bill. I’ll be putting it in the Congressional Record. Tomorrow, after every one should have had time to read it, I intend to ask for unanimous consent.”