Conn. exchange chief to tun Healthcare.gov

Federal officials tap Kevin Counihan, who helped launch Connecticut's successful online health insurance marketplace, to oversee the federal exchange, which is used by residents of three dozen states, and to prevent the problems that plagued it last fall.

Connecticut Mirror: Access Health's Counihan To Run Federal Obamacare Marketplace
Kevin Counihan is resigning as the chief executive of Connecticut's health insurance exchange to lead the once-troubled federal Obamacare marketplace, officials announced Tuesday. As CEO of the federal exchange, Counihan will assume responsibility for the HealthCare.gov insurance marketplace, a crucial piece of the Affordable Care Act that is used to enroll people in coverage in nearly three dozen states. The federal exchange's launch last fall was considered disastrous, and Counihan's appointment comes less than three months before the Nov. 15 start of the second open enrollment period for private insurance (Levin Becker, 8/26).

The New York Times: Leader Of Connecticut's Health Marketplace Is Named To Run Federal Program
Mr. Counihan will start on Sept. 8, a little more than two months before the next sign-up period for health insurance begins on Nov. 15. Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the secretary of Health and Human Services, hired Mr. Counihan for the new position of chief executive as part of an effort to improve management of the federal marketplace and to avoid the technological failures that paralyzed its website, HealthCare.gov, last fall (Goodnough, 8/26).

Kaiser Health News: New Head Of Healthcare.gov Is Connecticut's Counihan
Kevin Counihan, the head of Connecticut's health insurance marketplace, will be the new CEO of healthcare.gov, the website that 36 states use to sell insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the administration announced Tuesday. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell tapped Counihan to lead the site as part of a revamped management structure that aims to have the second year of Obamacare run more smoothly than the first (Cohen and Webber, 8/26).

The Wall Street Journal: Connecticut Exchange CEO To Run HealthCare.gov
The health law called for the setting up of online exchanges where consumers can compare insurance plans and apply for tax credits toward the cost of coverage. HealthCare.gov is the platform the federal government uses to run exchanges on behalf of more than 30 states unable or unwilling to run their own. … HHS said Tuesday that as well as being in charge of the federally run exchanges, Mr. Counihan's responsibilities would include working with the states that run their own exchanges, and running the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, the unit in charge of regulating health plans under the 2010 health law (Radnofsky, 8/26).

The Washington Post's Wonkblog: There's Finally Someone In Charge Of Healthcare.gov
The idea of a single point person to oversee the law's implementation originally generated interest among some of the law's advocates in early 2010 and top administration officials. More talk resurfaced after the failed launch of HealthCare.gov last year, when it became clear there was a management problem at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency overseeing the law's implementation. It's easy to see why CMS saw Counihan as the right person to run the enrollment Web site serving 36 states (Millman, 8/26).

San Francisco Chronicle: Health Exchange Head Named To Federal Post
The head of the state's health insurance exchange is leaving the post to head the federal and state marketplace in Washington. While he predicts the impact of his departure will be "minimal," some advocates aren't so sure. On Tuesday, Access Health CT CEO Kevin Counihan announced he had accepted a position as the federal marketplace CEO. Counihan will be responsible for leading the federal marketplace, managing relationships with state marketplaces and running the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, which regulates health insurance at the federal level. During open enrollment this year, the federal marketplace website, healthcare.gov, was plagued with glitches and shutdown (Cuda, 8/26).

NBC News: Connecticut Health Honcho Named Healthcare.gov CEO
Kevin Counihan, who headed up Connecticut's successful health insurance exchange, has been named CEO of Healthcare.gov. It's a new job, one that the new Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Matthews Burwell promised to create when she was named earlier this year (Fox, 8/26).

Politico also notes an interim appointment for another job.

Politico: Connecticut Exchange Leader Named CEO Of Healthcare.Gov
HHS is still looking for a permanent chief technology officer for HealthCare.gov, but the agency announced Tuesday that Tim Hughey of Accenture will effectively fill that role in the interim. Accenture is the lead contractor on the federal exchange now, having replaced CGI, which was fired in January. Hughey will provide technology support to CMS through the next open enrollment season, which kicks off Nov. 15, federal health officials said (Wheaton, 8/26).