Top IT official for Healthcare.Gov resigns

Nov 8 2013

Tony Trenkle, the federal official responsible for Healthcare.gov's launch and security, is moving to the private sector. CBS News reports that Trenkle was supposed to sign off on the site's security before launch but didn't.

The Washington Post's Federal Eye: Tony Trenkle: The Healthcare.gov Official Who Stepped Down
HealthCare.gov may have claimed its first casualty from the Obama administration: a veteran official who helped oversee development of the federal government's glitch-ridden online insurance exchange. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) said on Wednesday that Tony Trenkle, the agency's top technology executive, will step down on Nov. 15 "to take a position in the private sector." CMS Chief Operating Officer Michelle Snyder delivered the news in an e-mail to employees (Hicks, 11/7).

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Official Involved With Healthcare.gov To Leave
Tony Trenkle, the chief information officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will leave the agency on Nov. 15, according to an email written by the agency's chief operating officer, Michelle Snyder, and sent to agency employees on Wednesday. Mr. Trenkle oversaw $2 billion worth of annual spending on information products and services including the development of HealthCare.gov, the federal insurance website (Dooren, 11/6).

CBS News: Departing Obamacare Security Official Didn't Sign Off On Site Launch 
Tony Trenkle, the Obamacare official in charge of HealthCare.gov security efforts announced his resignation Wednesday, effective next week. CBS News has learned that Trenkle, the Chief Information Officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), was originally supposed to sign off on security for the glitch-ridden website before its Oct. 1 launch, but didn't (Attkisson, 11/6).

The Fiscal Times: Top IT Chief At CMS To Jump Sinking Ship
Trenkle was responsible for overseeing CMS's $2 billion tech budget, which includes the development of Healthcare.gov. He was also the direct supervisor of Henry Chao, CMS's deputy CIO, who is in charge of the contractors hired to build and now fix the problem plagued website. During a press call with reporters on Wednesday, CMS communications director Julie Bataille declined to say whether Trenkle was asked to resign. He will be replaced by Dave Nelson, director of the agency's Office of Enterprise Management (Ehley, 11/6).

Politico: Top IT Officer Leaving Obamacare Agency
The federal agency responsible for the disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov has announced that its information technology chief will retire at the end of next week. In the first staffing change disclosed since the website's Oct. 1 launch, CMS Chief Information Officer Tony Trenkle, who oversaw key agency players in the botched HealthCare.gov development, is leaving to take a position in the private sector, according to an email sent to agency staff (Norman, 11/6).

Modern Healthcare: CMS Technology Leader Trenkle Steps Down
Tony Trenkle, the laconic federal official who was both the CMS' point man on the $16.6 billion electronic health-record incentive payment program and its technology leader during the launch of the troubled HealthCare.gov, will be stepping down as the agency's chief information officer and its director of information services to work in the private sector (Conn, 11/6).