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Senator Wants Someone Fired for Botched Health Insurance Website

US Senate

Florida’s U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is calling for someone’s head amidst the finger-pointing in Washington over the failure of the online health insurance marketplace that was supposed to launch the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Weeks after its startup, many people report they still can't access the HealthCare.gov website to checkout their eligibility and insurance choices.

“For the computer system, it is ridiculous that it's not working and somebody ought to be fired,” Nelson declared this afternoon while talking with the news media in his Tampa office.

“But first, let's get it up and working,” Nelson added. “This is a technical issue. This is not a substantive issue. The law is the law and the law is going to work and there are going to be a lot of people that got health insurance that never had a chance to get it.”

Nelson said he does not agree with delaying the mandatory requirement for individuals to buy insurance.

His Republican counterpart in Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio, is suggesting legislation that would postpone the mandatory individual requirement because of the faulty website.

Bobbie O’Brien has been a Reporter/Producer at WUSF since 1991. She reports on general news topics in Florida and the Tampa Bay region.
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