Cover Oregon was the

health insurance marketplace In the United States, health insurance marketplaces, also called health exchanges, are organizations in each state through which people can purchase health insurance. People can purchase health insurance that complies with the Patient Protecti ...

for the U.S. state of Oregon, established as Oregon's implementation of the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

. Cover Oregon was intended to enable Oregonians and small businesses to purchase health insurance at federally subsidized rates. While the intent was to allow registration and selection of coverage via a website, the site was plagued with problems, and it was possible to purchase insurance only by paper registration. As of January 2014, almost $200 million of the $300 million allocated to develop and operate the Cover Oregon website had been spent. As a result of the ongoing problems, in April 2014, the board of directors voted to close the state-run exchange and adopt the Federal HealthCare.gov exchange beginning in 2015. The FBI began investigating the failed development of the website in March 2014. In March 2015, the state officially abolished Cover Oregon, permanently folding its functions into an existing

state agency A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administratio ...

and the federal HealthCare.gov website.

Background

Health insurance exchanges were established as a part of the 2010

to enable individuals to purchase health insurance in state-run marketplaces. In this legislation, states could choose to establish their own health insurance exchanges; if they choose not to do so, the federal government would run one for the state. In 2011, the

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the ...

passed Senate Bill 99, establishing Oregon's own exchange. Rocky King was named executive director of the exchange in late 2011, and on October 1, 2012, the exchange was named ''Cover Oregon''.

Website failure

Development of the website that would process online enrollments was done by

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...

and managed by the state of Oregon rather than an independent systems integrator. The project was plagued by numerous management and technological issues, and though the website was supposed to begin processing enrollments on October 1, by mid-October, it was unable to process any enrollments. As of mid-December 2013, the deadline for enrollment for coverage beginning January 1, the state had spent nearly $160 million and the site still could not process online enrollments. Governor

John Kitzhaber John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is an American former politician who served as the 35th governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003, and as the 37th governor of Oregon from 2011 until his resignation in 2015. A member of the Democratic Party ...

informed Oregon residents that they should obtain a paper application and mail it in to obtain coverage. The state hired or reassigned nearly 500 people to process paper applications. As of April 2014, the website was still not accepting online enrollments. 200,000 people had enrolled in Cover Oregon via paper applications, the majority through the

Oregon Health Plan The Oregon Health Plan is Oregon's state Medicaid program. It is overseen by the Oregon Health Authority. History The Oregon Health Plan was conceived and realized in 1993 by emergency room doctor (and subsequent Oregon governor) John Kitzhabe ...

(Oregon's implementation of

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...

). Cover Oregon Executive Director Rocky King and

Oregon Health Authority The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is a government agency in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was established by the passage of Oregon House Bill 2009 by the 75th Oregon Legislative Assembly, and split off from Oregon Department of Human Services, O ...

chief information officer Carolyn Lawson both resigned in the wake of the failure of the website. Interim executive director Bruce Goldberg stepped down in April 2014 and was replaced by Clyde Hamstreet, a consultant who specializes in corporate turnarounds. Faced with millions to make Cover Oregon functional, the board of directors voted in April 2014 to scrap the website in favor of adopting the Federal HealthCare.gov website for 2015 enrollments. Existing subscribers will have to re-enroll with the Federal exchange.

Legal disputes

In August 2014, Oracle Corporation sued Cover Oregon for breach of contract, for allegedly using their software without paying and then later that month the state of Oregon sued Oracle Corporation, in a civil complaint for breach of contract and "racketeering". By September 8, 2014, Oracle America had filed an amended complaint in federal court accusing Oregon of copyright infringement as Oregon was alleged to be using and distributing unpaid-for works derived from Oracle America's software. In March 2015, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed legislation dissolving Cover Oregon. The parties came to a settlement in September 2016, in which Oregon accepted a package that included $35 million in cash payments from Oracle, and technical support and software licensing agreements with an estimated value of $60 million. Although only a portion of the $240 million spent by the state to develop the system was recouped, a significant part of that expenditure was provided by the federal government, which would likely have claimed additional cash settlement would likely have been claimed. Oregon, Oracle settle lawsuit over botched rollout of Cover Oregon health insurance exchange
/ref> :"We are pleased to have this contentious litigation behind us and to provide Oregon with the flexibility to obtain the software and technical support it desires to address the state's needs over the next several years," said Dorian Daley, Oracle's executive vice president and general counsel. The ''Portland Tribune'' criticized the settlement: "But when the details are examined, it's clear Oracle came out the clear winner in these negotiations, while Oregon receives very little beyond its legal costs."

Federal investigation

In March 2014, the FBI announced it was launching an investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing related to the failed development of the site. Subpoenas were issued in May 2014 by a grand jury. As of May 2016 the FBI investigation into Cover Oregon was on-going.

Participating insurance providers

In 2014, 11 insurers offered plans on the individual/family market through Cover Oregon. *ATRIO Health * Bridgespan *

Health Net Health Net, LLC, a subsidiary of Centene Corporation, is an American health care insurance provider. Health Net and its subsidiaries provide health plans for individuals, families, businesses and people with Medicare and Medicaid, as well as com ...

*Health Republic *

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser Per ...

*Lifewise *

Moda Health Moda Health (formerly ODS Health) is a health insurance company based in Portland, Oregon. The company provides medical and dental insurance in Oregon, Alaska and Texas (and in Washington state before 2016). The Moda Center, a sports arena that is ...

*Oregon's Health Co-Op (since closed) *PacificSource * Providence Health Plan *Trillium Community Health Plan

References

External links

* http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20131215085928/https%3A//www.coveroregon.com/ {{Portal bar, Medicine, Oregon 2011 establishments in Oregon 2015 disestablishments in Oregon Government of Oregon

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Healthcare reform in Oregon Oregon law United States state health legislation