Global consulting firm Accenture has won a $45 million contract to run the problematic Obamacare health insurance enrolment website that crashed on its launch in October, a debacle that has cast a shadow over the presidency of Barack Obama.
Accenture has been chosen to replace CGI Federal to run the website HealthCare.gov. launched by the US government for millions of Americans shopping for health insurance, the White House and Accenutre said.
The website, a key part of US President Obama’s sweeping healthcare law, crashed on its October 1 launch. The website’s disastrous debut created a political crisis for Obama and the Democrats.
The Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it has awarded Accenture Federal Services a one-year contract to continue technical improvements to the Health Insurance Marketplace website HealthCare.gov.
“We are honoured to be part of the team of technology and healthcare companies and government professionals helping the federal government meet the healthcare coverage needs of its citizens,” David Moskovitz, Chief Executive, Accenture Federal Services said.
“Accenture will bring deep healthcare industry insight as well as proven experience building largescale, public-facing websites to continue improving HealthCare.gov.”
After reviewing over a dozen firms, CMS selected Accenture for a $45 million contract for the initial phase of the project, which includes a transition plan to define the work required.
“The contract will be based on mutually agreed upon work plans, which will help define the final value of the one-year contract,” Arlington-based Accenture said in a statement.
Accenture also will develop new capabilities required for future phases of programme implementation, it said.
In November, Obama said he deserves the blame of angry Americans for a debacle that has cast a shadow over his presidency and left Democrats anxious about the 2014 elections.
“I think it’s legitimate for (Americans) to expect me to have to win back some credibility. And, you know, that’s on me. I mean, we fumbled the rollout on this,” he had said on the collapse of the website on its launch.
Accenture Federal Services, a US company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Accenture LLP. The company generated net revenues of $28.6 billion for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2013.