Vermont's top health care reform official says the state's health insurance website was taken down temporarily because security upgrades did not keep pace with a schedule agreed to with federal officials.
Health care reform chief Lawrence Miller told lawmakers Thursday the only way to complete the upgrades was to close down the web portal and complete the improvements.
The state announced Tuesday it was taking the troubled Vermont Health Connect website offline so upgrades can be completed in time for it to be ready for the next open enrollment period, which begins Nov. 15.
During a Thursday meeting of The Health Care Oversight Committee some lawmaker said they were unhappy they were not informed.
But Miller said security experts advised against giving advanced notice.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
