August 26, 2014 | By John Fritze and Meredith Cohn, The Baltimore Sun
WASHINGTON - - Federal auditors examined the correction of incorrect health insurance in Maryland is the assignment documents hired as part of its investigation and requested information from the prime contractor by the state to build the site.
Based in North Dakota Healthcare Solutions Noridian, former Project Manager for a contract of several million dollars to develop the online insurance market Maryland, has a request for documents., The project, the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States on 30 July, the company's president said on Tuesday.
Tom McGraw, President and CEO of Noridian, said the company "will cooperate fully with the Office [Inspector General] continue the ongoing" trade.
Rep requested. Andy Harris, a Republican, the Baltimore County the federal review in February, was the first to speak of the summons to appear publicly on Tuesday. He described the latest developments as an extension of the investigation, and said the subpoenas show auditors can more serious than a website glitch-prone tackle problems.
"The Office of the Inspector General has moved from an audit for a full investigation," Harris, spokesman for the national legislation which provides for the exchange of health, said in a statement. "Those taxpayers' money, including politicians responsible misused and wasted."
Maryland has spent millions of dollars on the stock market - most of the money the federal government - but the site crashed on its first day of operation last fall and suffered technical problems for months. State officials, who have since split with Noridian redesigning the site this year.
Harris declined to say who he thinks has subpoenas or what is asked exactly. Donald White, a spokesman for the Inspector General of the Department of Health in the United States, would not confirm that such investigations were issued.
Maryland officials have long made the difficulty of implementing its subcontractors. Two subcontractors involved in the project - EngagePoint and IBM - do not ask if they had received subpoenas to the Inspector General responded on Tuesday.
State Republicans immediately sought to progress on the political responsibility for the Lieutenant Governor Anthony G. Brown, Democratic candidate for governor in the elections this year. Harris has repeatedly pointed out, the role of Brown in monitoring the implementation of the health law and his comments were followed by critical remarks of the Maryland Republican Party and the opposition Republican Party Brown, Larry Hogan.
"Lt. Governor Brown was for trade, and it seems that the fraud continued under his supervision," Harris said.
It is unclear whether a subpoena addressed to a government employee or elected officials. A spokesman for the campaign Brown has categorically denied that the Lieutenant Governor or one of his top aides received.
"It is disappointing that Mr. Harris would deceive the people and Maryland to play political games with a federal investigation," said campaign manager Justin Brown sound in a statement. "But it is clear that the Republicans will say anything to achieve their agenda of the extreme right."
Christopher Garrett, a spokesman for the Health Benefits Exchange Maryland, said his agency had received subpoenas and that officials are "closely with the Inspector General."
Garrett commented on the exchange, but there are also other state offices. A spokesman for Governor Martin O'Malley declined to discuss the quotations, questions to which Garrett himself.
Although Harris and other Republicans have repeatedly argued Tuesday that the subpoenas show that the Inspector General expanded probe more independent experts warned against Reading in the direction of a survey on the basis of the quotations because were now protected from the public.
They noted that the quote does not mean that a person or a company among researchers. Several experts IG generally have unrestricted access to records of officers or employees, but a subpoena may be necessary to obtain information from former employers - Noridian for example.
Researchers can focus on a wide range of issues, including whether the company their progress report or falsely misrepresented the qualifications of their programmers, experts say. Requests can also little to do with the parties.
"What does not show a sign of something more serious," said University of Baltimore law professor Charles Tiefer.
The exchanges were founded Affordable Care Act President Barack Obama to people who can not be compared through work or a government program and to purchase private health plans to help cover. Although the site of Maryland was one of the top performers in the country, state officials say more than 400,000 people signed later for coverage.
An important part of public funding is used to build and repair Maryland Health Exchange. Maryland plans to invest at the end of 2015 to 261 million dollars in your pocket - more than 80 percent of federal funds. Probably the extra money created by the Federal Government as part of its efforts to re-work the site by the State of Connecticut state software spending.
In Oregon, where even the use of the bag flubbed the last week sued the state officials involved contractors, Oracle America, alleging fraud, racketeering and civil other topics. The company said the study was "a fictional story about the Oregon Health Project" and "a desperate attempt, the fault coverage of Oregon and Governor for their failures to divert to manage a complex IT project."
john.fritze@baltsun.com
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