Washington (CNN) -- An outside company now heads the effort to correct problems with HealthCare.gov, rather than the federal agency getting most of the blame for the botched rollout of the website to enroll in President Barack Obama's signature health care reforms. Jeffrey Zients, the former White House budget officer assigned by Obama to fix the mess, said Friday that QSSI, a Maryland tech company, would serve as the "general contractor" in working to make the website function smoothly by the end of November. The announcement was a shift in tone and strategy for the administration. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) was the lead agency in overseeing creation of the online site that buckled under the volume of initial visitors following its October 1 launch.
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NEW: Outside contractor now overseeing website fixes
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Zients says the website will work properly for most people by the end of November
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Republicans continue attacks on President Obama's signature health care reforms
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Some Democrats seek extension of open enrollment for Obamacare policies
@placeholder was one of the dozens of contractors working with the government on the project coordinated by CMS, and now has the role of managing the correction efforts, according to Zients.