Shocking data released Thursday by a highly regarded Bloomberg government analyst put the Obamacare website rollout cost at over $1 billion. This represents a $600 million increase over the price tag usually associated with the Affordable Care Act, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Unfortunately, the bad news does not end here. Due to the multitude of kinks and glitches so far encountered and the anticipated overload of problems yet to be exposed, the website costs will continue to escalate.
Bloomberg’s Peter Gosselin offered, “Given the seriousness of the IT problems and the fact that most of the contracts are on a cost-plus basis, the companies almost certainly are in line for another burst of spending aimed at quickly making repairs.”
Although the Government contractors seem hopeful the website issues will be resolved, they refuse to be held to a timetable.
The more time spent shelling out contractor fees will keep costs spiraling upward. This is all bad news for Obama and his allies as they absorb the political fallout. This forced one House Democrat to plead with Obama to “man-up” and fire someone. Another House Democrat from Minnesota, Richard Nolan, insists that this computer debacle has “damaged the brand” of the Affordable Health Care law.
The IT issues have prompted some Democrats to urge Obama to extend enrollment deadlines and suspend penalties to beyond March 31. These are similar ideas that Texas Senator and Tea party advocate Ted Cruz argued and was demonized for just a few weeks ago, forcing the government shutdown.