UnitedHealth’s Slavitt to lead PPACA effort

Cheryl Campbell, senior vice president of CGI listens at left as Andy Slavitt, representing QSSI's parent company, testifies on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Andy Slavitt, Optum’s group vice president, will become principal deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, officials said. The company he comes from, UnitedHealth, is the nation’s largest health insurer.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will also hire a chief executive officer and chief technology officer for the insurance exchanges, said Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who was approved by Congress as the HHS secretary on June 9, in a statement obtained by Bloomberg News. Previously, no single person was in charge of the exchanges, a lack of accountability faulted by both foes and supporters of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act after HealthCare.gov was found to be riddled with technical errors.