Democrats in some states where the Obamacare rollout has been a disaster are finding themselves under attack from fellow Democrats in the run-up to midterm elections.
In Maryland, for example, in the race to succeed Gov. Martin O'Malley, Democratic Attorney General Douglas Gansler is using the Maryland Health Connection's problems — the website's software glitches were so bad that those who could not enroll in time can get retroactive coverage dating to Jan. 1 — against his
primary opponent, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who was in charge of the Obamacare rollout, reports
The Washington Times.
Last month, Gansler urged state officials to allow Maryland residents to use the federal website, HealthCare.gov, rather than the state website because Medicaid enrollment forms were reportedly sent to the wrong addresses.
"It's disappointing, but not surprising, to see Doug Gansler parroting right-wing Republican attacks on Obamacare," Justin Schall, Brown's campaign manager, told the Times.
In Minnesota, which failed to reach 30,000 enrollments, an outside consultant found the state's exchange, MNsure, had a management structure that was in constant "crisis mode," causing Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, who is seeking re-election, to work with a top vendor to try to repair the system, according to the newspaper.
"Really, it's more ammo for the primary opponents in the Democratic Party," Republican strategist Ford O'Connell said.
Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, meanwhile, was reportedly forced last week to apologize to users of that state's health insurance exchange, Health Connector, after a tech security contractor issued a report saying key decisions about the exchange weren't correctly documented or communicated.
And earlier this week in California, Democratic state Sen. Norma Torres introduced a bill aimed at fixing "problems experienced by consumers," including poor customer service, a low Hispanic sign-up rate and inaccuracies in the provider directory, reports
Fox News.
Torres tweeted Tuesday:
Democrats have also taken to running ads critical of Obamacare. Perhaps most telling is the fact that the Political Action Committee controlled by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is running a TV spot for Democratic Rep. Joe Garcia boasting that he is working to change the law, reports
the National Review.
"Joe Garcia is working to fix Obamacare. He voted to let you keep your existing health plan," says the ad's narrator. "He took the White House to task for the disastrous healthcare website."
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