A tech company says the state of Oregon is spreading "false narratives" about its role in the disastrous rollout of the Cover Oregon health exchange website, the Oregonian reports:
Oracle President Safra Catz said in a letter to Cover Oregon that the state, and not Oracle, deserves blame. The state made the decision to serve as its own systems integrator. "This decision has been criticized frequently by many," Catz said.
"Oracle's extensive documentation of this project supports the conclusion that OHA (Oregon Health Authority) and Cover Oregon lacked the skills, knowledge or ability to be successful as the systems integrator on an undertaking of this scope and complexity." […]
Oracle has maintained a steadfast silence during the long Cover Oregon PR nightmare. The letter, obtained by The Oregonian on Wednesday, gives one of the first glimpses at Oracle's position.
Catz claims Oracle "provided clear and repeated warnings" the exchange website would not be ready to go live by the first Oct. 1, 2013 deadline. "The state's current effort to deflect responsibility by claiming that Oracle failed to communicate the status of the project is demonstrably false," Catz said.
Oregon was supposed to be one of the flagship state exchanges under Obamacare, but when the state launched the Cover Oregon website on Oct. 1, it was nonfunctional.
Investigations by local news outlets unearthed emails and reports showing state officials were warned as early as 2011 that the project was deeply flawed. Several of those officials have resigned.
The Government Accountability Office is conducting an audit of the botched rollout.