MNsure director's tropical vacation amid website woes draws fire

Minneapolis Star-Tribune ^ | December 12, 2013 | Jennifer Brooks

[Colonel_Flagg]

Last month, while Minnesota's new health insurance exchange site was scrambling to fix glitches and under fire from critics, its director was on vacation.

MNsure director April Todd-Malmlov took a two-week vacation to Costa Rica around Thanksgiving. Gov. Mark Dayton defended her right to take a pre-scheduled trip, but critics of the fledgling health insurance exchange pounced.

The conservative group Watchdog.org put out a press release Thursday, condemning her absence while "thousands of frustrated Minnesotans were notified about glitches and errors in their applications on the state insurance exchange."

[Colonel_Flagg]

Classic example of a 'bad business decision' on more than one level. Governor Goofy has even more problems now.

[clintonh8r]

Never trust a woman with a hyphenated surname....

[Black Agnes]

Warm tropical breezes ping!

[Colonel_Flagg]

Debbie Wasserman-Schulz would like to ... oh, wait.

You’re right.

[Steely Tom]

In the private sector, her vacation would be permanent.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Interesting article comments. Some posters actually get it.

[N. Theknow]

First woman with a hyphenated name that I ever encountered I managed to really piss off.

"Wow! You must be ultra-conservative to honor the two men in your life by using both their last names. No Womyn's Lib for you, huh?"

[Colonel_Flagg]

Owwwwwww. !!

[skinkinthegrass]

ultra-conservative to honor the two menThat'll leave a mark...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Governor Goofy II...

[clintonh8r]

A good friend used to own a high end executive search firm. Whenever he got a resume’ with a hyphenated surname it became “lost in the mail.” (This was when people actually mailed their resume’)

[MissMagnolia]

Interesting .... so was Maryland's:

"The director of Maryland's troubled health insurance exchange resigned Friday amid ongoing technical problems and questions about a Caribbean vacation she took while the online marketplace faltered."

[Grampa Dave]

The Md director did the same and apparently got fired, or she resigned: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3101112/posts Another blue state Obamacare exchange director resigns American Thinker ^ | Dec 12, 2013 | Rick Moran Posted on ‎12‎/‎12‎/‎2013‎ ‎11‎:‎44‎:‎42‎ ‎AM by bkopto The botched rollout of Obamacare has claimed another bureaucrat. Maryland's state Obamacare exchange director resigned after it was discovered that she was on a vacation in the Cayman Islands when the website imploded. This makes the third blue state exchange director forced out because of problems with the websites. Previously, the directors for the troubled Hawaii and Oregon exchanges had been run out of town. The director of Maryland's troubled health insurance exchange resigned Friday amid ongoing technical problems and questions about a Caribbean vacation she took while the online marketplace faltered. Rebecca Pearce, hired two years ago to build a $107 million exchange, leaves her post as officials struggle to repair the system that launched Oct. 1. The exchange's rocky start and low enrollment have become ammunition for political attacks on Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who was tasked by the governor with overseeing the state's implementation of the federal health care reform law. The board of the Maryland Heath Benefit Exchange accepted Pearce's resignation during an emergency session Friday night. In a statement, Joshua Sharfstein, the state health secretary and board chairman, said Pearce "worked tirelessly and with tremendous dedication." Pearce, whose starting salary in 2011 was $175,000, will be replaced on an interim basis by Carolyn Quattrocki, a top adviser to Gov. Martin O'Malley. As state lawmakers grilled Sharfstein on Nov. 26 on why the health exchange was still broken, Pearce was on a week's vacation in the Cayman Islands. During the trip, she could not be reached by phone, email or text, the health department said Friday.

[vette6387]

“Never trust a woman with a hyphenated surname....”

Never trust ANYBODY with a hyphenated surname. Particularly Judges!

[vette6387]

“Interesting .... so was Maryland’s:”

I think you can add in Hawaii and Oregone as well.

[Colonel_Flagg]

News we can use here. I hate to see anyone lose their job but really, she needs to use her head. I’ve had to cancel or postpone vacations for work reasons so why can’t the boss?

[matt04]

And never ever trust a women who used a middle name AND a hyphenated surname.

[TurboZamboni]

That seems to be a prerequisite to work for the MN ‘heath care exchange’.

every time I see a news story on TV, these PR women all have hyphenated names and even more excuses.

[Chickensoup]

Really. I have a hyphenated name. I was born that way. You have an issue with them, you are an ass.

[clintonh8r]

I had in mind those who acquire them voluntarily through marriage, but you’re free to think of me as you wish. I have the luxury of not caring.