Oregon’s dedication to Obamacare has been complete and total since the law passed, with Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber seeking to put the state front and center in developing an Obamacare exchange. But when it came time to launch, Cover Oregon fell flat – and now the politicians are scrambling to back away from the approach.
Democratic governor John Kitzhaber, himself a physician, admits he was “entirely outside the loop” on development of the $160 million website. He’s earned widespread ridicule for his lax management as he prepares to run for reelection. The Oregonian reports that some of his officials actively tried to squelch internal critics who warned the website was doomed: “The Oregon Health Authority last January withheld payment from the company hired to monitor the project, claiming its persistent criticism was inaccurate and inflammatory.” Just two months later, in March 2013, Rocky King, Cover Oregon’s executive director told the Oregonian he was constantly being asked by legislators “will it work?” His stock answer: “I haven’t the foggiest idea.” King has admitted he had very little experience in IT, so he was no doubt being truthful.
King has been replaced by Bruce Goldberg, who is now trying to help legislators decide whether to scrap the multi-million dollar project entirely.
Interim Cover Oregon head Bruce Goldberg said Wednesday that while his team is making progress on fixing a flood of problems with the health exchange’s foundering website, it might ultimately have to scrap all or part of a system in which two years and tens of millions of dollars have been invested.
Goldberg testified Wednesday morning before the Joint Committee on Legislative Audits, Information Management and Technology.
“It’s no secret to anybody in this room or in this state that we don’t have a fully functioning website,” Goldberg said, the first in a long series of admissions that there are major problems with the site. …
“We need to start looking at – beyond March – what are our contingencies,” Goldberg said. “Be that other state systems or parts of the federal system to help with open enrollment. I don’t think we are at the point in time to make that decision, but we need to begin to make that plan.”
Goldberg said if the decision is made to move on, the state will try to leverage parts of the current system to avoid completely wasting a program in which the federal government initially invested $48 million.
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