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September 17, 2015 By AMK

How Healthcare.gov botched $600 million worth of contracts

The public employees responsible for overseeing $600 million in contracts to build healthcare.gov were inadequately trained, kept sloppy records, and failed to identify delays and problems that contributed to millions in cost overruns.

That’s according to a new government audit, published today. It reveals widespread failures by the federal agency charged with managing the private contractors who built healthcare.gov. The audit is the first to document, in detail, how shoddy oversight by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which manages federal health programs including Obamacare, contributed to the website’s early struggles.

Healthcare.gov - $799 Million

To develop healthcare.gov, CMS hired and managed private companies to create vast, interlocking software systems that would allow consumers to shop for insurance policies. According to the report, issued by the agency’s inspector general, lapses in oversight of those companies started early on—well before the website’s limping debut, on Oct. 1, 2013. The site faltered for months, frustrating consumers until a scramble to repair it ultimately allowed millions to enroll in health plans.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-15/how-healthcare-gov-botched-600-million-worth-of-contracts

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition training, adminis, Affordable Health Care Act, CMS, contract delays, healthcare exchanges, HHS, IG, OIG

November 8, 2013 By AMK

Payments to HealthCare.gov contractor questioned during Medicare.gov overhaul

Government contracts with a major vendor building HealthCare.gov drew scrutiny in the past, a 2007 audit shows.

In 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services awarded Canada-based CGI a $94 million contract to construct the public face of the Obamacare insurance marketplace. According to BusinessWeek, that contract has reached a value of roughly $277 million. The website hosting the marketplace, HealthCare.gov, has been barely functional at best since it launched on Oct. 1.

Six years ago, CGI’s compensation for work on another CMS website raised eyebrows.  The company received $2.6 million in “questionable payments” for a revamp of Medicare.gov and an existing claims appeals system to handle prescription drug benefits. CMS may have violated its own rules in some payments to CGI, and at least four of the company’s invoices contained suspicious charges, according to a government audit.

The fees, found among a $25.7 million sampling of bills, were questionable because they were potentially improper, unsubstantiated or wasteful, the audit said. Examiners identified questionable payments to CGI and about 15 other contractors implementing the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/health/2013/10/payments-healthcaregov-contractor-questioned-during-medicaregov-overhaul/72704

 

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: Affordable Health Care Act, audit, CMS, contract payments, HHS, improper payment, labor rate, Medicare, Obamacare, R&D, research, technology

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