The White House is doing cleanup duty as the fallout from the botched HealthCare.gov rollout continues to plague both healthcare shoppers and their agents. A source close with the Obama administration told the Washington Post today that CGI Federal—the IT contractor that built the troubled exchange site—will no longer be working for the government.
According to the individual, federal health officials will not be renewing CGI Federal’s contract into the new year. Instead, a different company--
Accenture--is expected to sign a $90mn contract with the government for repair work over the next 12 months.
Accenture declined to comment on the contract, but the fact that the company was responsible for building the comparatively successful Covered California bodes well. According to Steven Hurd, president of San Diego-based Pacific Health Brokers, the application process through California’s state-based exchange is relatively painless.
“We can do an application in 10 minutes,” Hurd told Insurance Business. “For anyone who calls in and wants insurance, the process just goes rooty-toot-scoot now.”
That’s much better than the experience Teresa Gutierrez, a producer with JBA Benefits in Raleigh, N.C., has been having with HealthCare.gov.
“It takes at least a good hour to get somebody through the marketplace,” Gutierrez said. “That’s even with us knowing all the little tricks, like don’t check that button or answer the question this way, that make sure the application moves on.
The decision to can CGI Federal comes even as the Obama administration has been touting the high number of visitors to the site and improved efficiency for users.
