Obama administration set to take over Oregon's broken health insurance exchange

[DonViejo]

Source: Washington Post

The Obama administration is poised to take over Oregon's broken health insurance exchange, according to officials familiar with the decision, who say that it reflects federal officials' conclusion that several state-run marketplaces may be too dysfunctional to fix.

The collapse of Oregon’s insurance marketplace comes as federal health officials are also focusing intensely on faltering exchanges in two other states, including Maryland.





Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/obama-administration-prepares-to-take-over-oregons-broken-health-insurance-exchange/2014/04/24/ff9aa220-cbc4-11e3-95f7-7ecdde72d2ea_story.html

[OKNancy]

1. my daughter, who lives in Portland, had to use all paper

for her application. Our family in Oklahoma used the federal exchange which was a breeze.
It's so odd to me that they couldn't get it done in Oregon of all places.

[defacto7]

2. I agree with your question, "of all places".

Oregon is very divided between the right and left. There are strong left political strongholds even in counties close to Portland like Clackamas. There are large tech companies in that area so I would suppose even though Oregon is generally a blue state by population, control of the infrastructure of their exchange could very well be controlled by right wing nuts who would want to see ACA fail. That's my subjective input.

[DrBulldog]

3. The perfect hidden storm in the wrong place

Take a group of incompetent turf-fighting hi-level state IT managers who had quietly gotten away with their pathetic work within the state for years and combine that with an incompetent outside "expert" from California who in turn recommended an incompetent contract development vendor (Oracle) ... and boom! - a nuclear chain reaction began - all within a state noted particularly for its high-tech savvy and accomplishments.

For two years this mess fomented deep within the state infrastructure deliberately hidden away from the politicians by these same managers ... until someone finally clicked their mouse for the first time ...

The best part is this horrible extensive IT rot in Oregon's state government is now being fully exposed and scraped away as fast as possible by its outraged Democratic governor. The $200 million dollar CoverOregon will soon be heading for the landfill, but the future of IT in Oregon is now appearing far, far better than it was six months ago.

[pragmatic_dem]

4. You can bet every developer on that project knew it was a POS but feared for their job so

they kept their mouths shut. The main problem is an over paid MBA culture that believes eliminating quality and testing while hiring more fucking MBA project managers to cut expenses and increase profits.

Programming & engineering used to be a career, now you are treated like a sewing machine operator by dirtbag MBAs who believe sending emails 24 hrs a day counts as productivity.

[Cha]

8. Seems odd to me too, Nancy. My daughter also lives in Portland but

they all have health insurance through her husband's job.

[bhikkhu]

5. As "broken" as it is, that just meant I had to use a pen to fill out an application

And my family got much better insurance than I expected, beginning January 15th. I was able to research the options and print the application form from Cover Oregon, and I got a reasonably fast response, and we got covered.

In spite of all the hoopla, they got the important part right, and the good intentions of everyone involved paid off.

The coverage has been easy to use, and no problem for anything we've needed. I got my first checkup in 15 years, no problem, no cost. When I had to go in for a flu shot (work required), I just showed them my card, they typed it into the computer, and though I had my checkbook out they said "there's no charge, its all covered". My older daughter went in for her long overdue eye exam and gave them her card - they did the exam and showed her the frame selection that was covered, and she picked out one she liked - a week later, new glasses, no charge...

Its not major stuff, but its little things that make you feel like you have some value, even though you don't make a lot of money.

[goldent]

6. There was some complaining last year about the "freeloader" states who were using

the federal system. I wish all the states would - why re-invent the wheel?

[progree]

7. ^^-- This! I never understood that either

[DrBulldog]

9. Just out: now a second major Oracle failure in Oregon's IT revealed today!

See Oregon Live site ... oh what a huge new mess ($71 million this time) for Oregon IT caused yet again by Oracle ...