State parting ways with Health Connector site builder
The Patrick administration is moving to end its contract with the firm responsible for building the poorly functioning Obamacare website as the governor’s special Health Connector czar said Monday it could be October before the state has a fully functioning exchange website.
Sarah Iselin, the governor's special assistant in charge of the Health Connector website fix, told the Connector board at a meeting on Monday that negotiations were underway to end the state’s contract with Canadian vendor CGI, who has been working with Iselin’s team and the information technology firm Optum, brought on board as a consultant, to put the website back on track.
Iselin said the administration is still weighing its long-term options, but will most likely try to rebuild non-functioning portions of the site, including its health insurance eligibility determination system, with a new vendor.
Though leaders have ruled out starting from scratch on a new site or continuing the course with CGI, the other option involves trying to leverage pieces of another state’s web exchange or the federal government’s software.
CGI’s contract with the state, worth $69 million, was due to run until September. So far, the state has paid about $15.9 million to CGI, and officials said it will be unclear how much more the state will pay or if any money can be recouped until negotiations with CGI for the transition to a new vendor are complete.
With the fully functional site not expected to be ready until the fall, Iselin said the state will have to seek another extension from the federal government beyond June 30 to continue providing coverage through subsidized Commonwealth Care plans.
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