Report: States withholding payments to ObamaCare contractor

Officials in Massachusetts and Vermont are withholding payments to a primary ObamaCare contractor over the problem-plagued healthcare rollout.

The Boston Globe reported on Thursday that, in addition to halting new payments to the CGI Group, officials in both states are weighing their legal options against the company in a potential effort to recoup taxpayer dollars.

CGI is the largest ObamaCare contractor and was primarily responsible for developing HealthCare.gov.
 
{mosads}Massachusetts has so far paid $11 million of its $69 million contract, according to the Globe report, while Vermont owes the company $5 million and is disputing an additional $1 million.
 
In addition to Massachusetts, Vermont and the federal exchange, CGI has ObamaCare contracts with Hawaii, Colorado, Kentucky, New Mexico and California.
 
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has estimated the information technology costs for HealthCare.gov to be $677 million through the end of October.
 
HHS has only spent $319 million of that amount so far.
 
Sebelius has hinted the Health department could seek to withhold some payments to contractors due to the poor performance of the website.
 
Last month, the secretary announced that her inspector general (IG) will investigate the botched launch of HealthCare.gov.
 
“I believe strongly in the need for accountability and in the importance of being good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Sebelius wrote in a blog post announcing the investigation.
 
She said the IG will investigate payments to contractors and that she would “act based on his recommendations.”