In the running controversy over Oregon's state-run health insurance exchange website, Oracle, the exchange contractor, said the website was not launched due to political reasons, according to a KATU report.
In April, the board overseeing the state's health exchange voted to stop the launch of the website, instead opting to use Healthcare.gov. In May, Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) said he wanted to file a lawsuit against Oracle and blamed the company for the issues and following expenses the state had to deal with.
The Government Accountability Office opened a federal investigation at the request of Oracle, who delivered a presentation to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee saying the failed rollout was not their fault, according to the report.
"Cover Oregon executives have stated to Oracle that the application functionality is sufficient to support individual enrollment," Safra Catz, Oracle president, wrote in a letter to Cover Oregon interim director Clyde Hamstreet and state CIO Alex Pettit, according to the report. "However, Cover Oregon has not agreed to give individuals direct access to the application. Thus Cover Oregon, not Oracle, made the decision to keep the exchange closed to individuals even though the functionality has been delivered by Oracle."
Additionally, Oracle's presentation to the GAO contended the website was abandoned for political reasons. "Oracle can only conclude that the Governor's unwillingness to release the website is because doing so doesn't fit with his re-election strategy of blaming Oracle for his own mistakes," reads the presentation, according to the report.
The governor's office released a response statement saying Cover Oregon's board and Gov. Kitzhaber decided to not deploy the website after testing of the website demonstrated it was not ready to perform.
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