The woman who congressional leaders called out after the meltdown of the Affordable Care Act's website retired from public office Tuesday.
Michelle Snyder, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' chief operating officer, has worked in the sector for 40 years and had planned to retire at the end of 2012, said agency head Marilyn Tavenner, who told staff members Snyder
agreed to stay for an extra year to "help me with the challenges facing CMS in 2013."
"Michelle's accomplishments over her career have been numerous and wide-ranging," Tavenner wrote, listing a long series of programs and projects Snyder had worked on.
Snyder headed development of HealthCare.gov, which started freezing soon after it debuted in the beginning of October, then crashed altogether. The site temporarily was removed, underwent a rebuild and was re-introduced in November.
CMS Chief Information Officer
Tony Trenkle was the first to leave the agency after Obamacare's series of pitfalls.
"Michelle Snyder is the one responsible for this debacle," U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Capitol Hill during oversight hearings.
Sebelius countered, "Michelle Snyder is not responsible for the debacle. Hold me accountable for the debacle. I'm responsible."
In a recent statement, House Government Reform and Oversight Chairman and California Rep. Darrell Issa had harsh words for Snyder.
"Documents and interviews indicate Michelle Snyder's involvement in bypassing the recommendation of CMS' top security expert, who recommended delaying the launch of HealthCare.gov after independent testers raised concern about serious vulnerabilities from a lack of adequate security testing," Issa said.
"Americans seeking health insurance," he said, "are left to shoulder the risk of a website that's still an all-around work in progress because of the cult-like commitment officials had to the arbitrary goal of launching on Oct. 1."
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