An internal government memo written just days before the start of open enrollment for Obamacare warned of a `` high '' security risk because of a lack of testing of the HealthCare.gov website . Related : Administration warned about site a month before launch . `` Due to system readiness issues , the SCA ( security control assessment ) was only partly completed , '' said the internal memo from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services . `` This constitutes a risk that must be accepted and mitigated to support the Marketplace Day 1 operations . '' The memo , which was provided in response to a request from the House Oversight Committee , goes on to explain that CMS would create a `` dedicated security team '' to monitor the risk , conduct weekly scans and within 60 to 90 days after the website went live , `` conduct a full-scale SCA test . '' Read the memo . The memo did not detail the security concerns . It was written by IT officials at CMS , and was sent to and signed by the agency 's director , Marilyn Tavenner , who testified on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that she thought the website was ready to go when it began its crash-riddled rollout on October 1 . `` We had tested the website and we were comfortable with its performance , '' Tavenner told lawmakers , although she added the caveat , `` we knew all along there would be , as with any new website , some individual glitches we would have to work out . '' Republican lawmakers referred to the document Wednesday as they raised concerns at a House Energy and Commerce Committee grilling of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius , Tavenner 's boss . Sebelius also testified that she thought the website , which has been prone to crashing , was ready to be rolled out on October 1 . She compared the early rollout to a sort of early beta test and said the system was secure because data is stored in the same systems used by the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Homeland Security . Contractors blame government for Obamacare website woes . But lawmakers said the system should have been more thoroughly vetted , since it asks purchasers of health insurance to provide personal information . `` You accepted a risk on behalf of every person that used this computer that put their personal and financial information at risk because you did not even have the most basic 'end-to-end ' test on security of this system , '' Rep. Mike Rogers , R-Michigan , told Sebelius . `` Amazon would never do this . ProFlowers would never do this . Kayak would never do this , '' he said . CNNMoney had earlier in the week profiled an Arizona software tester who said the system was vulnerable and could be hacked . He was able to reset users ' passwords without much difficulty . But the Department of Health and Human Services told CNN that particular issue had been addressed .
Quality control for ` ` was only partly completed , '' it says . It was written just days before the start of open enrollment for Obamacare . We should create a national system to assess the risk , conduct weekly scans , it says . Lawmakers say the system should have been more thoroughly vetted .