Dive Brief:
- Optum, which was tasked with fixing Healthcare.gov following the website's disastrous debut, announced this week that it was done stabilizing the site and would not re-bid for a contract to continue its role as senior advisor.
- The company had been among the several dozen contractors that worked on Healthcare.gov before its October 2013 launch. It was then appointed by the Obama administration to spearhead the efforts to get the site functional by that coming Thanksgiving and to stay on for an overhaul.
- Optum's federal contract—worth $40 million per year—is set to end in July, although the company says it may assist through a transition period after that time. Company spokesman Matt Stearns told the Wall Street Journal they would continue to operate the website's data services hub and identity management systems, and continue working with states that operate their own sites.
Dive Insight:
Optum, a division of UnitedHealth Group, said that moving on from Healthcare.gov would give it the freedom to pursue other contracts—and leave this contract potentially open to other bidders. While the site's outward facing issues have been resolved, there are reportedly still challenges with the system's infrastructure and back-end systems for transmitting data to insurers and state Medicaid programs.
"By no longer acting as senior adviser to Healthcare.gov, Optum can seek to assist in other projects and leverage our ability to develop and operate large transactional systems that advance healthcare," its spokesman was quoted in the Wall Street Journal. Which begs the question, what big deals is the company going to use its freed-up bandwidth on to make up a $40-million hole?