The inability of the federal government to launch a website presented a big crisis for managerial liberalism. It’s also a spectacular example of how the government burns through money like there’s no tomorrow. The total cost of the crap ObamaCare website, from its failed launch through countless fixes, works out to a cool $1.7 billion according to the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.
$1.7 billion for a website that didn’t work at all on Day One, and still isn’t really finished.
The Weekly Standard presents an excerpt from the OIG report:
The 60 contracts related to the development and operation of the Federal Marketplace started between January 2009 and January 2014. The purpose of the 60 contracts ranged from health benefit data collection and consumer research to cloud computing and Web site development. The original estimated values of these contracts totaled $1.7 billion; the contract values ranged from $69,195 to over $200 million. Across the 60 contracts, nearly $800 million has been obligated for the development of the Federal Marketplace as of February 2014. As of that date, CMS had paid nearly $500 million for the development of the Federal Marketplace to the contractors awarded these contracts.
Adds the Standard:
A few familiar names appear on the list of contracts, such as Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. Also appearing are CGI Federal, widely blamed for the botched roll out of the site last October, and Accenture Federal Services, which has taken over for CGI in hopes that this year’s open enrollment will go better than 2013.
Well, that’s a safe bet, because it couldn’t go worse, unless TrainWreck.gov starts sending electric pulses through computer keyboards and causing insurance shoppers to burst into flames.
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