Oregon Taxpayers 'Stuck' With Bill From Failed Obamacare Website

Friday, 25 Apr 2014 07:04 PM Article By; / Todd Beamon


Republicans slammed the taxpayer waste from scrapping Oregon's $303 million, problem-plagued Obamacare health exchange on Friday, citing it as yet another example of why the healthcare law should be repealed.

"Once again, Obamacare causes chaos and confusion for Oregonians," Rep. Greg Walden, the state's only GOP member of Congress, said in a statement. "Today, the same board that oversaw the colossal waste at Cover Oregon voted to throw in the towel, and taxpayers are left stuck with the bill.

"The board should explain further to the taxpayers of Oregon and the nation how exactly this massive failure happened."

Jahan Wilcox, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said: "It's remarkable that Cover Oregon was such a disaster that moving into the troubled HealthCare.gov is considered an improvement."

He also referenced U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley's support of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The Oregon Democrat, who has since distanced himself from the beleaguered law, is seeking re-election this fall.

"Oregonians can give themselves a real upgrade by firing Sen. Jeff Merkley, whose deciding vote for Obamacare resulted in the creation of Cover Oregon," Wilcox said.

The board overseeing the state's Obamacare program, Cover Oregon, on Friday accepted an advisory committee's recommendation to ditch its troubled portal after spending months and millions of dollars on trying to get it to work. Oregon instead will use HealthCare.gov for private policies.

According to Cover Oregon officials, fixing the troubled portal would have cost $78 million and would have taken too long. Using HealthCare.gov, which has had its own share of glitches and problems since the Obamacare rollout, would cost just $4 million to $6 million.

"I don't know that anyone in the room is excited about going down this path," Liz Baxter, who chairs the Cover Oregon board, said in a report in The Oregonian. "But I think it's the only option."

In more than a dozen states that opted to create their own exchanges, Oregon's was seen as the most dysfunctional. It was plagued by technical problems so severe that almost all the 50,000 people who signed up for insurance through the exchange did so using paper applications or with help from a professional.

Right up to the end, Oregonians were not able to use the website to sign up for coverage in one sitting.

Oregon residents instead had to use an arduous paper-online process to sign up for insurance — despite the $134 million the state paid Oracle Corp. to build the online exchange. Oregon received a monthlong enrollment-deadline extension because of the technology problems.

The state enthusiastically embraced Obamacare, and the website had been a pioneer for state marketplaces.

And even though several other states have had major problems with their Obamacare exchanges, only Oregon has voted to scrap it entirely. Maryland recently decided to adopt the technology used on Connecticut's successful exchange.

In March, the Government Accountability Office in Washington said that it would investigate the Oregon exchange, including looking at whether the federal government can reclaim grant money given to Cover Oregon if taxpayer funds were mismanaged.

Officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said they were working with Oregon on the next steps in the effort.

Meanwhile, an independent investigation ordered by Gov. John Kitzhaber found state managers repeatedly disregarded reports about technical problems that prevented the Cover Oregon exchange from launching when the Obamacare individual mandate took effect in October.

It also found that Oracle did a poor job in building the exchange's technology. Five Oregon officials connected to website's development have resigned.

Kitzhaber said communications about the portal's troubles never reached him as the Oct. 1 launch neared. The governor said he agreed with the technology advisory committee's recommendation to scrap the website.

State officials said they would keep the Cover Oregon website, redesigning it to direct people to HealthCare.gov. Oregon also will use the federal call center, but it will retain some customer outreach, education efforts and initial carrier management.

Because HealthCare.gov enrolls people only in private health plans, Oregonians who are declared eligible for the Medicaid program for low-income Americans will be redirected to the Oregon Health Authority.

That agency can enroll them in the Oregon Health Plan, Oregon's version of Medicaid.

So far, about 242,000 Oregonians have enrolled in coverage through Cover Oregon. About 70,000 are in private plans, while 172,000 are enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan.


Related Stories:
Once a Leader, Oregon Insurance Exchange Struggles

Republicans Probe 3 States With Failing Obamacare Exchanges
End of article


Comments;
In spite of stories like this coming out every day, the ignorant libs keep right on insisting that Obamacare is a "great thing"!

It sure looks like it was a "great thing" for Larry Ellison's Oracle Corp., which scored $134 million to "build" what didn't work, and was then thrown into a dumpster! And libs still can't understand why other people refer to them as being, "low-information", "ignorant", and just plain STUPID!

I repeat......"You can always tell a liberal.......but you can't tell them "much"!

(At least with having any expectation of them actually understanding what you're talking about!)

OK, libs, you can start your usual rants now......(not that anyone will be paying any attention to you. )

My friend, a mortician, just can not wait for the repeal of "Obama care". Without ACA in place more people will die more quickly, thereby protecting the income of small business such as his mortuary and his friend who makes ornate small caskets. He especially loves working on children who die of curable pre-existing conditions, they require very little embalming fluid -- highly profitable.

Like all my fellow Republicans I feel that we should not interfere with a person's right to die and that death is normal. Death should not to be tinkered with by man, especially those radical liberals. AIDS is justice for perverted sex, small pox, typhus, polio, and many other diseases are normal and cleanse the population of the poor class. Work on sickle-cell anemia, is in its self racist, it weeds out unfit, unhealthy blacks... a waste of tax payers money.

Non-Classical Adrenal Hyperplasia, Tay-Sachs Disease, and Torsion Dystonia were cast upon the Jews because they refused to accept Christ as their savior. Certainly, we should not accept them for ACA and spread the cost to good Conservative Christians... and we are a Christian Nation.

Repeal Obama Care for sure. It is not just Oregonians who suffer all of us in this Nation of Christ suffer from ACA.

Oregon Taxpayers 'Stuck' With Bill From Failed Obamacare Website

Friday, 25 Apr 2014 07:04 PM Article By; / Todd Beamon


Republicans slammed the taxpayer waste from scrapping Oregon's $303 million, problem-plagued Obamacare health exchange on Friday, citing it as yet another example of why the healthcare law should be repealed.

"Once again, Obamacare causes chaos and confusion for Oregonians," Rep. Greg Walden, the state's only GOP member of Congress, said in a statement. "Today, the same board that oversaw the colossal waste at Cover Oregon voted to throw in the towel, and taxpayers are left stuck with the bill.

"The board should explain further to the taxpayers of Oregon and the nation how exactly this massive failure happened."

Jahan Wilcox, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said: "It's remarkable that Cover Oregon was such a disaster that moving into the troubled HealthCare.gov is considered an improvement."

He also referenced U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley's support of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The Oregon Democrat, who has since distanced himself from the beleaguered law, is seeking re-election this fall.

"Oregonians can give themselves a real upgrade by firing Sen. Jeff Merkley, whose deciding vote for Obamacare resulted in the creation of Cover Oregon," Wilcox said.

The board overseeing the state's Obamacare program, Cover Oregon, on Friday accepted an advisory committee's recommendation to ditch its troubled portal after spending months and millions of dollars on trying to get it to work. Oregon instead will use HealthCare.gov for private policies.

According to Cover Oregon officials, fixing the troubled portal would have cost $78 million and would have taken too long. Using HealthCare.gov, which has had its own share of glitches and problems since the Obamacare rollout, would cost just $4 million to $6 million.

"I don't know that anyone in the room is excited about going down this path," Liz Baxter, who chairs the Cover Oregon board, said in a report in The Oregonian. "But I think it's the only option."

In more than a dozen states that opted to create their own exchanges, Oregon's was seen as the most dysfunctional. It was plagued by technical problems so severe that almost all the 50,000 people who signed up for insurance through the exchange did so using paper applications or with help from a professional.

Right up to the end, Oregonians were not able to use the website to sign up for coverage in one sitting.

Oregon residents instead had to use an arduous paper-online process to sign up for insurance — despite the $134 million the state paid Oracle Corp. to build the online exchange. Oregon received a monthlong enrollment-deadline extension because of the technology problems.

The state enthusiastically embraced Obamacare, and the website had been a pioneer for state marketplaces.

And even though several other states have had major problems with their Obamacare exchanges, only Oregon has voted to scrap it entirely. Maryland recently decided to adopt the technology used on Connecticut's successful exchange.

In March, the Government Accountability Office in Washington said that it would investigate the Oregon exchange, including looking at whether the federal government can reclaim grant money given to Cover Oregon if taxpayer funds were mismanaged.

Officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said they were working with Oregon on the next steps in the effort.

Meanwhile, an independent investigation ordered by Gov. John Kitzhaber found state managers repeatedly disregarded reports about technical problems that prevented the Cover Oregon exchange from launching when the Obamacare individual mandate took effect in October.

It also found that Oracle did a poor job in building the exchange's technology. Five Oregon officials connected to website's development have resigned.

Kitzhaber said communications about the portal's troubles never reached him as the Oct. 1 launch neared. The governor said he agreed with the technology advisory committee's recommendation to scrap the website.

State officials said they would keep the Cover Oregon website, redesigning it to direct people to HealthCare.gov. Oregon also will use the federal call center, but it will retain some customer outreach, education efforts and initial carrier management.

Because HealthCare.gov enrolls people only in private health plans, Oregonians who are declared eligible for the Medicaid program for low-income Americans will be redirected to the Oregon Health Authority.

That agency can enroll them in the Oregon Health Plan, Oregon's version of Medicaid.

So far, about 242,000 Oregonians have enrolled in coverage through Cover Oregon. About 70,000 are in private plans, while 172,000 are enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan.


Related Stories:
Once a Leader, Oregon Insurance Exchange Struggles

Republicans Probe 3 States With Failing Obamacare Exchanges
End of article


Comments;
In spite of stories like this coming out every day, the ignorant libs keep right on insisting that Obamacare is a "great thing"!

It sure looks like it was a "great thing" for Larry Ellison's Oracle Corp., which scored $134 million to "build" what didn't work, and was then thrown into a dumpster! And libs still can't understand why other people refer to them as being, "low-information", "ignorant", and just plain STUPID!

I repeat......"You can always tell a liberal.......but you can't tell them "much"!

(At least with having any expectation of them actually understanding what you're talking about!)

OK, libs, you can start your usual rants now......(not that anyone will be paying any attention to you. )

Now Ted45, I was just trying to think like a Republican and give good, tho fictitious, examples of advantages of doing away with ACA. Perhaps it is the Republicans that need the professional counseling.... hummm, whatchatank.

With the epidemic of diabetes (among many pre existing conditions) in the young, thanks to lots of hi fructose sugar and sugar in general.... along with tons of carbs... coupled with lack of activity due to the advent of the remote control and long hours of video games.... well with ACA they will be able to get insurance coverage.

Now Ted45, I was just trying to think like a Republican and give good, tho fictitious, examples of advantages of doing away with ACA. Perhaps it is the Republicans that need the professional counseling.... hummm, whatchatank.

With the epidemic of diabetes (among many pre existing conditions) in the young, thanks to lots of hi fructose sugar and sugar in general.... along with tons of carbs... coupled with lack of activity due to the advent of the remote control and long hours of video games.... well with ACA they will be able to get insurance coverage.