Memo: Administration Was Concerned Lack of Healthcare.gov Testing Posed ‘High’ Security Risk

The administration was worried that the lack of testing for Healthcare.gov posed a “high” security risk, according to an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press.

In the memo dated September 27, Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner said that a contractor had not been able to test all the security controls in a complete version of the system, which “exposed a level of uncertainty that can be deemed as a high risk.”

To rectify the matter, the memo recommended setting up a team to address the risks, run daily tests, and conduct a full security test within a few months of the website’s launch.

Tavenner apologized Tuesday at a House Ways and Means committee hearing for the federal health-care exchange’s rocky launch. 

“To the millions of Americans who’ve attempted to use Healthcare.gov to shop and enroll in health-care coverage, I want to apologize to you that the website has not worked as well as it should,” she said. ”We know how desperately you need affordable coverage.”