Building and overhauling HealthCare.gov will cost the government much more than HHS has estimated through the end of fiscal year 2014, according to a Bloomberg Government analysis.
BGOV based its analysis on its proprietary contracts database, which offers insight into federal spending, as well as grant records, program documents and government spending reports. The analysis does not include the cost of Medicaid expansion, since reliable financial information on that aspect of healthcare reform has not been publicized.
According to the analysis, through the end of fiscal year 2014 on Sept. 30, the cost of the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and its companion EHR program will reach an estimated $73.5 billion. That includes roughly $2.14 billion the federal government has spent or committed to spend so far on creating and repairing HealthCare.gov, which experienced numerous technical problems after its launch last year. By contrast, HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell has said the federal exchange website and related IT cost $834 million through last February and was expected to cost another $200 million in fiscal year 2015.
HHS declined to comment on the discrepancy between its estimates and BGOV's findings. According to the analysis, at least $255 million of the difference can be explained by the different time frames examined. Meanwhile, $300 million comes from BGOV's inclusion of paper backup, $387 million comes from the inclusion of the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies, and $400 million stems from records being open to interpretation.