Vermont fires creator of its ‘unacceptable,’ glitchy ObamaCare site

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The state of Vermont has fired CGI, the technology firm responsible for creating the Vermont Health Connect website.

House Majority Leader Willem Jewett, D-Ripton, was among thousands of Vermonters unable to sign up properly through the site.

“We have constituents (struggling) out there — I’m one of them, I’m in that exchange. I had to struggle for change in circumstance. It’s just unacceptable,” Jewett told Vermont Watchdog.

An estimated 14,000 Vermonters are tied up in “change of circumstance” glitches with Vermont Health Connect. Since CGI launched the site this past October, health officials have received a steady stream of complaints from people unable to make adjustments to plans online.

Chief of Health Care Reform Lawrence Miller explained CGI’s firing in a statement to press.

“For many, Vermont Health Connect works as it should. For others, the system is still failing them and causing deep frustration. That is unacceptable to me, and we will explore every option and take every step to make this system work for all Vermonters,” he said. “Today’s changes are steps in that direction and more can be expected in the coming weeks.”

Vermont has paid CGI $57 million of an $83 million contract. The state will pay CGI an additional $9.7 million through Sept. 20 for completed work. The Department of Vermont Health Access announced it will transition the remaining work to Optum.

This isn’t the first time CGI has been fired.

The Obama administration canned CGI in January after the government services firm failed to deliver an exchange website for the federal health exchange, HealthCare.gov. Massachusetts announced in March it was dumping the firm due to technical failures. The company’s contract with Hawaii is currently under fire for the same technical hang-ups.

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