The Health IT Policy Committee meets monthly to make recommendations to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) on a policy framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information infrastructure, including standards for the electronic exchange of health information. This summary pertains to the September 4, 2013 meeting involving updates from the FDASIA Workgroup, the Meaningful Use (MU) Workgroup, the Data Analytics team, and the ONC Policy and Programs group.

The Health IT Standards Committee meets monthly to make recommendations to the National Coordinator for Health IT on standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for the electronic exchange and use of health information. This summary pertains to the October 18, 2013 meeting involving updates from the Clinical Operations Workgroup, the Scenario-Based Testing group, and the ONC Policy & Standards group.

On Thursday, October 24, 2013, the House Energy and Commerce Committee conducted a full committee hearing to investigate the failures of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) health insurance marketplace website. Witnesses included four government contractors: CGI Federal, Optum/Quality Software Services (QSSI), Equifax Workforce Solutions, and Serco.

On November 5, 2013, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee conducted a hearing to investigate the technical problems with HealthCare.gov. The sole witness for the meeting was Marilyn Tavenner, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator.

On Tuesday, October 29th, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing to determine (1) the current status of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) implementation and (2) to further examine the problems American are experiencing with the launch of the PPACA health insurance marketplace website. The sole witness for this was Marilyn Tavenner, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

On Wednesday, October 30th, the House Energy and Commerce Committee conducted a hearing to investigate the technical failures of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA) health insurance marketplace website. The sole witness for the meeting was the Honorable Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The Health IT Standards Committee meets monthly to make recommendations to the National Coordinator for Health IT on standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for the electronic exchange and use of health information. This summary pertains to the November 13, 2013 meeting involving updates from the Certification/Adoption Workgroup, Consumer Technology Workgroup, FDASIA, the Patient Safety Organization (PSO) Analysis Projects, SAFER Guides, and the ONC Policy & Standards group.

On November 14, 2013, the House Energy and Commerce Committee conducted a hearing to investigate the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, implementation problems on HealthCare.gov and beyond. The witnesses include Michael Astrue, Avik Roy, Dr. Roger Stark, Sabrina Corlette, and Marilyn Dixon-Hill.

On November 6, 2013, the Senate Finance Committee conducted a hearing to investigate the extent of the problems with Health Insurance Exchanges. The sole witness for the meeting was Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

On November 13, 2013, the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform Committee held a hearing to investigate the technical issues behind the launch of the federal health insurance marketplace. The panel consisted of five witnesses: Government officials from HHS, CMS, The White House, OMB, and GAO.