A New York Times investigative article based on two dozen interviews with industry insiders and confidential Obama Administration documents reveals that the catastrophic $500 million Obamacare rollout \u201chas deeply embarrassed the White House\u201d and has the technology companies involved \u201cpublicly distancing themselves\u201d from the Obamacare fiasco.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are not glitches. The extent of the problems is pretty enormous,\u201d an insurance executive who participated in Obamacare conference calls told the Times. \u201cAt the end of our calls, people say, \u2018It\u2019s awful, just awful.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The Times says those closest to the three-and-a-half year-long building of Obamacare, like embattled Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, ignored or quashed the myriad warning bells sounding all around them. On Tuesday, the Republican National Committee released a #FireSebelius web ad calling for Sebelius\u2019s ousting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe foresee a train wreck,\u201d one insurance executive working on Obamacare IT said in February. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the IT specifications. The level of angst in health plans is growing by leaps and bounds. The political people in the administration do not understand how far behind they are.\u201d
\nThe comments mirror those made in April by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) who helped craft Obamacare. At the time, Baucus said Obamacare was \u201ca huge train wreck coming down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, the companies that bagged millions to build the Obamacare digital architecture are scurrying to avoid public ridicule and scrutiny. \u201cWorried about their reputations, contractors are now publicly distancing themselves from the troubled parts of the federally run project,\u201d reports the Times.<\/p>\n
Development Seed President Eric Gundersen told the Times his company built the busted HealthCare.org website but \u201chad nothing to do with what happened after a user hit the \u2018Apply Now\u2019 button.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oracle, which was subcontracted to handle identity management software used in the Obamacare registration process, claims its services are running swimmingly. \u201cOur software is running properly,\u201d said Oracle communications vice president Deborah Hellinger.<\/p>\n
One of Obamacare\u2019s biggest winners of taxpayer dollars has been CGI Group. Washington Examiner reporter Richard Pollock says that the U.S. subsidiary of Canadian company CGI (which stands for \u201cConseillers en Gestion et Informatique\u201d) Group, CGI Federal, received a no-bid sweetheart contract worth $93 million. Since 2009, CGI has scored $678 million in taxpayer money for 185 separate task orders.<\/p>\n