HHS watchdog: O-Care audits far from over

The head watchdog of the Department Health and Human Services (HHS) said Tuesday that his office is still undergoing as many as 40 investigations related to ObamaCare, some of which could drop in the next few weeks.

HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson said audits are underway on some of the biggest issues for ObamaCare and its embattled website HealthCare.gov, including payment systems, eligibility and security issues.

{mosads}“We have about 30 to 40 audits and evaluations in process to look at the exchanges, to look at the marketplaces,” Levinson said in a Q&A with The Washington Post.

He added that some reports will come out in “the next few weeks.” Some state exchanges have been under the agency’s microscope as well, though he declined to say which ones.

Levinson, who was appointed under President George W. Bush in the era of Medicaid Part D, said he has been awed by the “really explosive portfolio” under the Obama administration.

“I’m just struck with how things have headed north over the last few years,” he said.

In the interview, Levinson also said his most uncomfortable moment on Capitol Hill was a hearing in which Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) repeatedly asked exactly how many dollars had been wasted in healthcare fraud, which Levinson called “a fool’s errand.”

“He found it very frustrating. And I found it very frustrating to get the question asked repeatedly of me,” Levinson said.