Emails Reveal Worries About Bad Press for Obamacare Website

New emails released by the House Overisight and Government Reform Committee show that top officials involved in the rollout of HealthCare.gov were concerned about the website not being ready, and that the error message would garner bad press.

"I am picturing in my mind all the major print and online publications taking screen shots of what is below and just ramping up the hyperbole about hc.gov not functional," wrote Henry Chao, deputy chief information officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Health and Human Services Agency tasked with implementing the federal exchange.

According to a White House spokesman, the Sept. 25 emails express concerns about high traffic to the site, not a hunch that the site would not work at all, Politico reports.