5:38 AM
Like many people, I have been following the saga of the failed state health care exchanges, Massachusetts being one. But a sentence in today's New York Times article about the Oregon exchange took my breath away:
Oregon has received $305 million in federal grants to build its exchange, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The Census Bureau reports the number of households in Oregon as 1.5 million. So we (yes, we) have spent about $300 per family to produce nothing.
As we look at that CRS report, we see that Massachusetts got $170 million for the same purpose and couldn't get its act together. Hawaii, $205 million. Maryland, $171 million. And, in addition, according to the Pioneer Institute report, "Failure at the Connector will cost Massachusetts taxpayers over $100 million dollars this year" because 160,000 Massachusetts residents are on temporary public Medicaid coverage even though they don't qualify for MassHealth.
On Oregon, the Times reports:
[I]n February, the federal government delivered a devastating critique of the Oregon exchange, saying it had “no integrated project schedule” and no “overarching dedicated project manager” to keep work on track. Moreover, it said, the state did far too little to supervise its main information technology contractor, Oracle.
I strongly support the goals and purposes of the Accountable Care Act, but this level of managerial incompetence is breathtaking. Shouldn't we as federal taxpayers ask for the failed states to return the US grants they received? Perhaps, then, the states will have an incentive to recover the spent funds from the contractors they hired.
Oregon has received $305 million in federal grants to build its exchange, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The Census Bureau reports the number of households in Oregon as 1.5 million. So we (yes, we) have spent about $300 per family to produce nothing.
As we look at that CRS report, we see that Massachusetts got $170 million for the same purpose and couldn't get its act together. Hawaii, $205 million. Maryland, $171 million. And, in addition, according to the Pioneer Institute report, "Failure at the Connector will cost Massachusetts taxpayers over $100 million dollars this year" because 160,000 Massachusetts residents are on temporary public Medicaid coverage even though they don't qualify for MassHealth.
On Oregon, the Times reports:
[I]n February, the federal government delivered a devastating critique of the Oregon exchange, saying it had “no integrated project schedule” and no “overarching dedicated project manager” to keep work on track. Moreover, it said, the state did far too little to supervise its main information technology contractor, Oracle.
I strongly support the goals and purposes of the Accountable Care Act, but this level of managerial incompetence is breathtaking. Shouldn't we as federal taxpayers ask for the failed states to return the US grants they received? Perhaps, then, the states will have an incentive to recover the spent funds from the contractors they hired.
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