Oregon’s two Democratic Senators have joined congressional Republicans calling for a federal audit of the defective Oregon health care exchange website.
The Oregonian reports:
Oregon’s two U.S. Senators, Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, both Democrats, have joined a call by congressional Republicans for a federal audit of the Oregon’s exchange. Thanks to technical problems, Oregon’s is the last exchange in the country that doesn’t allow the public to self-enroll.
Merkley and Wyden sent a letter Feb. 13 to Gene Dodaro, the U.S. Comptroller General who oversees the Government Accountability Office [GAO], seeking to "follow up and expand upon" a similar request sent the day before by Congressional Republicans, including Oregon Rep. Greg Walden. That request asked the GAO to look at how federal money was spent and how similar problems could be avoided in the future.
Wrote Merkley and Wyden, "As supporters of health insurance reform, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), we have been shocked and disappointed to watch the failure of Cover Oregon to launch our state’s online marketplace, especially as other states and the federal facilitated marketplaces have been gaining traction on new enrollment."
As previously reported by the Washington Free Beacon, Walden and other members of Congress are calling on GAO to investigate the development of the website following allegations of fraud and gross mismanagement.