In Oregon, Obamacare is being called an "epic failure" by lawmakers as the state-based exchange continues to fail. It's been nearly two months since the pro-Obamacare state launched their state based exchange site on October 1 and not a single person has been able to sign up. Things have gotten so bad, paper applications and fax machines were brought in to help expedite the process (yes, you read that correctly).
“I think just about everybody in Oregon is surprised and frustrated with where we are right now,” said Jesse O’Brien, a health care advocate for the Portland-based consumer advocacy group OSPIRG. “With Oregon having a reputation as a state that supports health reform and with a governor that is very enthusiastic, I think everyone was expecting we’d be in a much different position.”
“It is such an epic failure, literally it’s mind-boggling,” said state Rep. Jason Conger, a Republican from central Oregon who’s running for Sen. Jeff Merkley’s seat next year.
In addition, we've seen three major security breaches in the past week with Oregon residents receiving the confidential personal information, including full names and social security numbers, belonging to someone else. But the bad news doesn't end there.
The Oregon exchange came with a $305 million price tag for taxpayers all over the country and not a single person has been enrolled. John Kartch at ATR has the numbers from the Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services:
I thought it couldn't get worse than DC or Delaware, but it just did.
I think this is probably how people working on the Oregon exchange probably feel right now:
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