Talk about a total waste of tax dollars, $196 million to-date…. apparently, the US government isn’t the only government entity that’s had trouble with the Obamacare website development firm, CGI Technologies and Solutions, Inc. (CGI). How was this company’s qualifications vetted? Did anyone get references? This wasn’t the first big contract job they’ve taken on, and several have not gone smoothly.
$196 million to have the new healthcare exchange website up and running by October 1st. That’s $93 million over the original contracted amount. So what gives? What are all these cost overruns?
It’ll probably be a while before we get all the gory details, but what they know so far is, CGI was already concerned about the tight timeframe for implementation. Something this complex can take years rollout. Then, there were numerous changes requested since the original contract, including last minute design changes. And then, there was the failure to fully stress test the site before going live.
Our U.S. government has outsourced the biggest undertaking in our lifetimes (possibly our history!) to CGI, who is a “friend” of Washington DC. Come to find out, the Obamacare website project wasn’t even opened up to a full and open bidding process. It was limited to a select number of contractors who already had relationships with our Federal government. Certainly, I understand the sensitivity and importance of this project. Security levels had to be maintained and a comfort level that the project was going to be delivered on time as expected. However, given the magnitude and importance of this project why wouldn’t we have opened this up to allow other companies to at least bid, and THEN choose the most qualified and reputable? Shameful.
As if the money woes weren’t enough to get you, trying to abide by the individual mandate will. With estimates of 6 months to correct the “glitches”, I’m not sure how our Federal government expects us to meet the mandate by March 2014. And in a bizarre twist, even Democrat Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz agrees that the enrollment period may need to be extended. Holy cow! Did she really say that? Yes, she did!
Take a few moments and enjoy this brief moment of bipartisan unity… it’s a rare occurrence in Washington DC these days!
Click here for an additional source and even more details.
