Dive Brief:
- Consulting and technology firm Accenture announced on Monday that it landed a five-year, $563-million contract to continue its work on the Healthcare.gov federal insurance exchange website.
- Accenture is responsible for helping to fix the first, defective version of the Obamacare site and said it mobilized more than 500 people in six weeks to do so (in the wake of the fallout with original Healthcare.gov contractor CGI Group, Inc.).
- While there was competition for this contract, Accenture was the only bid received by the CMS, which runs Healthcare.gov.
Dive Insight:
The saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" carries some meaning for the now fully functional Healthcare.gov. Also, in the case of the once-glitchy mega-website, fixing something that's broken has turned into a big business for the health IT firm Accenture. And this administration couldn't be happier.
"Accenture has been an essential member of our team as we focused on delivering a positive consumer experience through HealthCare.gov," CMS administrator Marilyn Tavenner said in a press release. "We are pleased that Accenture will continue to support HealthCare.gov, as we work together to help millions of Americans sign up for quality, affordable health insurance."
Since the second open enrollment season began Nov. 15, Healthcare.gov has performed well and is virtually glitch-free, which is credited for current enrollment numbers of at least 7.1 million.
