As an Oct. 1 deadline approaches for open enrollment in health insurance exchanges (HIXes), mandated under the Affordable Care Act, IT vendors, the federal government and states are rushing to complete the HIXes in time. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), the watchdog arm for Congress, issued a report June 19 stating that HIXes are behind schedule to meet this deadline. The study was requested by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich). "Whether [the government's] contingency planning will assure the timely and smooth implementation of the exchanges by October 2013 cannot yet be determined," the GAO stated in its report, "Status of CMS Efforts to Establish Federally Facilitated Health Insurance Exchanges."
