(NEW YORK TIMES) WASHINGTON — With encouragement from the Obama administration, an Oregon panel recommended Thursday that the state scrap the website for its beleaguered health insurance exchange and use the federal marketplace instead.
State officials concluded that it would be much less expensive to use the federal site, HealthCare.gov, than to repair the one built specially for the state, Cover Oregon. The first option would cost $4 million to $6 million, while the second would cost $78 million, state officials said.
The Oregon exchange — like those in Hawaii, Maryland and Massachusetts— has been plagued with technical problems that have made it difficult for consumers to enroll online. All four states have Democratic governors who strongly support President Obama’s effort to expand coverage under the 2010 health care law.
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