Panel told PPACA implementation on track

"I'm afraid this Rube Goldberg experiment will not end well," Pitts said during the hearing, which was streamed live on the Web.

Brett Graham, a partner at Leavitt Partners, a consulting firm affiliated with an official who served as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary under President George W. Bush, predicted a rocky debut for the exchanges. He said managers of some state-based exchanges have been talking about "de-scoping" — narrowing their ambitions — since April. 

Some states are trying to test their exchange systems even though they haven't completed work on the systems, Graham said.

Edward Lenz, who testified on behalf of the Employers for Flexibility in Health Care Coalition, said rigid employee counting rules and delays in efforts to clarify and implement the PPACA employer coverage mandate are hurting coalition members.

Even though the federal government is pushing back the effective date of the employer mandate one year, employers need clear-cut employee counting rules now, so that, by Jan. 1, they can set up the systems they need to start tracking and classifying workers, Lenz said.

But Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., said House Republicans are the ones slowing PPACA implementation, by harassing some of the nonprofit organizations that are supposed to help to enroll consumers in exchange plans.

House Republicans have sent one "navigator" group in Pallone's district — a food bank — a letter asking for detailed information about its enrollment activities.

"My concern is that this letter is solely designed to cause delay," Pallone said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

See also:

• Felons as new PPACA navigators?
• Web broker signs exchange agent agreement
• IT threatens exchange enrollment