White House Was Warned About Problems With Obamacare Implementation 3 Years Ago, Memo Says

Senior White House officials were apparently warned at least three years ago that the rollout of Obamacare would be bumpy.

Harvard University economics professor David Cutler speaks at the annual meeting of the National Governors Association, Friday, July 9, 2010, in Boston. Cutler, as a White House health care adviser, warned the administration about the implementation of Obamacare. (AP)

Obama health care adviser David Cutler told the White House in 2010 that the administration was losing control of the president’s signature health care law, according to a memo obtained by CBS News.

Cutler said there was a leadership vacuum, adding that this put the law in jeopardy.

“I do not believe the relevant members of the administration understand the president's vision or have the capability to carry it out,” Cutler wrote in the May 2010 memo to then-White House economic adviser Larry Summers.

Cutler, who worked on the Obama 2008 presidential campaign, said the White House lacked anyone with experience in start-ups and warned that this could lead to obvious issues of coordinating tech and health information.

“You need to have people who have understanding of the political process, people who understand how to work within an administration and people who understand how to start and build a business, and unfortunately,” he wrote, “they just didn't get all of those people together.”

The White House blew off Cutler’s warnings, CBS News reported, and instead chose to rely on bureaucrats and senior “experts.”

“It is frustrating any time you really want to see something succeed because you believe it's good for people, and it doesn't get off on the right foot,” Cutler said in the memo.

--

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

[related]