Sharyl Atkisson of the Daily Signal reports that Covered California deliberately tried to hide its operations from public scrutiny, including the number of enrollees, the close ties of many contractors to executive director Peter Lee, and general mismanagement. Her investigative report, based on whistleblower accounts, is the second in a two-part series on Covered California, which has been touted by Obamacare supporters as the model for how other states should run their programs.
In Part 1, Atkisson reported on alleged fraud and incompetence at Covered California. Part 2 covers the steps the program allegedly took to conceal its many flaws. Atkisson notes that Covered California conducted its own investigation after the Associated Press reported that “millions in no-bid Covered California contracts went to firms with professional ties to agency Executive Director Peter Lee.” However, one whistleblower told Atkisson that the investigation was just a “sham”:
“They knew back in August of 2013 that there were serious readiness issues with Covered California. … When I and others persisted in challenging these contractor performance issues, our own contracts were prematurely terminated and we were threatened with legal action if we spoke out.”
Hill calls the inquiry a sham and says investigators failed to interview key witnesses he suggested. Covered California declined to answer our questions on this topic, or any other.
Covered California also refused to discuss whether it was achieving its goals, Atkisson says.
Read Part 2 here.