Feds pick first CEO for HealthCare.gov

ObamaCare’s once-troubled federal insurance marketplace will gain a new leader ahead of the next enrollment period, federal health officials announced Tuesday. 

Kevin Counihan, the leader of Connecticut’s insurance marketplace, will take charge of HealthCare.gov and a key ObamaCare policymaking office at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

{mosads}The appointment of Counihan as CEO of the federal exchange is the latest in a series of management changes implemented by Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who joined the department this year. 

“We are building strong teams with the focus and know-how necessary to advance our mission and deliver impact for the people we serve,” Burwell said Tuesday in a statement. 

“I’m particularly pleased to welcome Kevin Counihan to the new Marketplace CEO role. He brings additional operational and technological expertise to the position and will be a clear, single point of contact for streamlined decision-making.”

Counihan will be in charge of coordinating policy with the 36 states that participate in the federal marketplace and ensuring that enrollment systems run smoothly. 

His position brings the additional pressure of avoiding the problems of last year’s rollout, which plunged the Obama administration into political chaos. 

Counihan earned distinction as head of Access Health CT, the Connecticut system, which surpassed its enrollment goal this year and developed successful exchange software that will be used in at least one other state. 

He previously worked in Massachusetts as part of the rollout of then-Gov. Mitt Romney’s (R) healthcare reform law, the inspiration for ObamaCare. 

Counihan will report to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner and also lead the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. 

The CMS announced several other personnel moves on Tuesday. 

The agency will add Lori Lodes, a senior vice president at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, as communications director and senior adviser. 

Lodes will replace former CMS spokeswoman Julie Bataille, who recently left the agency after shepherding it through the chaotic rollout starting last October. 

In addition, Tim Hughey, managing director at Accenture, will continue to work with the federal marketplace on the technology side through 2015 open enrollment.