By Gintautas Dumcius <\/p>\n
State House News Service <\/p>\n
BOSTON -- With the next open enrollment period set for Nov. 15, Gov. Deval Patrick on Monday said the state's troubled health-care exchange website is fixed, at a cost of an additional $26 million to the state, bringing the federal and state total to $254 million in information technology costs. <\/p>\n
The $254 million covers calendar years 2011 to 2015, and is $80 million higher than the original $174 million estimate to build the site, according to a Patrick administration spokeswoman. The state's share of the cost is $42 million, up from the original $16 million. <\/p>\n
Addressing attendees of a hearing on health-care cost trends at Suffolk University Law School, Patrick said the additional $26 million is \"significant,\" but \"not the hundreds of millions or billion dollar figures that some have bandied about.\" <\/p>\n
In a September report, The Pioneer Institute, a think tank critical of the state's efforts, estimated that taxpayers will have spent $600 million to implement a new health exchange, on top of $540 million for a temporary Medicaid program to insure residents who were prevented from signing up for health insurance due to problems with the website. <\/p>\n
Patrick administration officials responded dismissively to the report after its release, and Patrick himself issued a statement condemning the report while traveling on a trade mission. <\/p>\n
On Monday, Patrick acknowledged the site was a \"terrible disappointment\" during last year's transition to the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), but said the state has enrolled more than 400,000 people in both subsidized and unsubsidized coverage programs. <\/p>\n
Joshua Archambault, a senior fellow at the Pioneer Institute, called Monday's estimate \"far too narrow.\" <\/p>\n
\"It is similar to a student mistaking his out-of-pocket expenses as the only expense for attending the local university,\" he said. <\/p>\n
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Gov: Health-care exchange website fixed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Gintautas Dumcius State House News Service BOSTON -- With the next open enrollment period set for Nov. 15, Gov Continue reading