New documents reveal that it will cost taxpayers $121 million in order to repair and renovate the Obamacare website (HealthCare.gov), which is actually $27 million more than it cost to build in the first place. The Republicans are jumping on this latest revelation.
The reports say that Accenture Federal Reserve has been brought in to repair the glitches that CGI Federal, the initial contractor that produce the website, wasn’t able to remedy in the first place. The issues facing the Obamacare website caused national headlines because it delayed or prevented Americans from signing up for insurance coverage.
According to the government, the initial cost of HealthCare.gov was $93.7 million and the $121 million repair is even $30 million more than what Washington had estimated earlier this year. However, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) defended the exorbitant contract by arguing that renovations will eventually aid consumers by improving access.
Some Republicans aren’t pleased.
“There doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel for Obamacare website expenses,” said California Republican Congressman and House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa. “Developers are still being brought in to finish building HealthCare.gov, some states are abandoning their own failed sites, and federal taxpayers are still being handed the bills for it all.”
This is just more bad news for President Obama and his healthcare overhaul initiative.
It was discovered in February that Obamacare will increase the costs of healthcare for approximately 11 million small business workers. “Therefore, we are estimating that 65 percent of the small firms are expected to experience increases in their premium rates, while the remaining 35 percent are anticipated to have rate reductions,” CMS wrote in the report
There have also been numerous reports highlighting that private companies and organizations in the public sector are slashing hours and diminishing their workforce in order to avoid paying exorbitant costs associated with Obamacare.
Leave a Comment