Maryland ObamaCare Exchange To Be Scrapped, Wasting Taxpayers $125.5 Million

The Washington Post reported late Friday that the board of the Maryland ObamaCare exchange will vote at a meeting Tuesday to junk the current system that has thus far cost, at least, $125.5 million. The vote will take place just one day after the end of the first enrollment period under ObamaCare.

If they can get have a successful experience, then Maryland residents will still be able to use the exchange as it is being replaced with technology from the Connecticut exchange, Access Health CT said. The state is reportedly turning to the consulting firm Deloitte for help in the effort, which will replace the Maryland ObamaCare exchange with technology from Connecticut’s marketplace.

Maryland, as well as Connecticut, built their own exchange. But, unlike Connecticut, Maryland’s has been plagued by computer problems since its rollout on Oct. 1. Improvements have been made, but the computer problems are still too vast. It has been a complete waste of taxpayer money.

The state reports that just 49,293 Maryland residents have enrolled in private health plans as of last week, which is far short of their original goal of 150,000.

Gov. O’Malley said Friday that reporters should expect an official announcement on the future of the exchange next week.

“We still have stuck applications. We still wrestle with it every day,” O’Malley said. “The clock was ticking, and we have been changing the flat tires on this rolling car for the last five, going on six months now. And it has gotten better with every new fix applied to it, [but it is] still not working as it was supposed to work.”

Last month, analysts released a report that found that the state’s unworkable health care exchange would cost the taxpayers $30.5 million because the state is unable to determine whether people are even eligible for Medicaid. The 31-page report also found “there is significant uncertainty about the way forward.” Or, in other words, there is no telling how much money could be truly needed to fix the site as problems arise in the future.

Last month, Maryland’s health exchange board voted to fire the state’s prime information technology contractor, Noridian Healthcare Solutions. Rep. Andy Harris, who is the only Republican congressman from the state of Maryland, recently announced that the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services had agreed to review the state health exchange after requesting an investigation in February.

Earlier this month, the Government Accountability Office, which is the investigative arm of Congress agreed to look into problems with state health exchange websites. The agency accepted an initial request from a group of House Republicans seeking an audit on how $304 million in federal grants were spent on the Cover Oregon website, which has yet to even enroll a single person online without special assistance.