Accenture may take over Obamacare website

NEW YORK, USA: The White House is poised to sign a year-long contract with global consulting firm Accenture, worth roughly US$90m, to maintain the government's troubled health insurance website, according to reports in the US.

Accenture may start running Obama's healthcare site. Image: mybaitshop Fotolia

The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, said the administration of US President Barack Obama has decided to part ways with CGI Federal, the main contractor that built HealthCare and worked to solve the litany of problems since its October roll-out.

The Post said the contract with Accenture could be signed early next week. It also said the government believed CGI had not repaired the problems with the website as well as it could have.

Accenture is one of the world's largest consulting firms, and was responsible for building California's health insurance exchange.

When asked about the report, company spokeswoman Joanne Veto said only that Accenture's federal services division was "in discussions" with possible clients "all the time" but that she could not comment on potential contracts.

The botched roll-out of HealthCare stymied many Americans who sought to sign up for health insurance under Obama's Affordable Care Act. Plan enrollments increased significantly in December.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge