Maryland’s Disastrous Obamacare Launch To Be Investigated By Feds

This screen image shows the website for Maryland's online health care exchange. House Republicans intent on highlighting the woes of President Barack Obama’s health care law need to look no further than their own b... This screen image shows the website for Maryland's online health care exchange. House Republicans intent on highlighting the woes of President Barack Obama’s health care law need to look no further than their own back yards, some of which are traditionally liberal strongholds. Maryland’s online health care exchange has been plagued by computer glitches since its rollout last year, reflected in abysmal enrollment numbers well below projections through January. The state’s lone Republican in Congress, Rep. Andy Harris, has asked the inspector general of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to investigate. (AP Photo/State of Maryland) MORE LESS
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Maryland’s troubled Obamacare insurance marketplace will be investigated by a federal oversight agency.

The Washington Post reported the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s inspector general will look into the marketplace’s struggles. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) requested the investigation.

The Maryland website has experienced user problems since its Oct. 1 launch. The site crashed almost as soon as it launched, and users have continued to see error screens when using the site. The Post reported in January that officials had been warned about potential problems months before the failed debut. Among the 14 states that built their own websites, Maryland ranks as one of the worst in terms of enrolling its eligible population in private health coverage.

State lawmakers have floated the idea of switching to the federally run HealthCare.gov because of the issues, and top contractors have been fired.

The HHS IG is also investigating the disastrous launch of HealthCare.gov.

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