Was President Barack Obama aiming for a tech company well-versed in designing websites for a single-payer health system when he awarded the now glitch-riddled healthcare.gov contract to Canadian CGI?
Behind all the glitches, and at the heart of the utterly stalled healthcare.gov, that’s exactly what CGI is: the Canadian tech firm—Canada’s largest—that has provided to Canada’s single-payer health system.
Is that the dirty little secret hidden behind the public embarrassment that even after spending $93.7 million—a figure expected to double to correct—the Obama administration can’t get healthcare.gov up and running?
“CGI Federal Inc., a subsidiary based in Fairfax, Va., was awarded a US$93.7-million contract over two years ago to help design and develop the federal insurance exchange.”
“The “CGI” in the parent company’s name stands for “Conseillers en Gestion et Informatique” in French, which roughly translates to “Information Systems and Management Consultants”. However the firm offers another translation: “Consultants to Government and Industry”. (Washington Examiner, Oct. 4, 2013).
“The company is deeply embedded in Canada’s single-payer system. CGI has provided IT services to the Canadian Ministries of Health in Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Saskatchewan, as well as the the national health provider, Health Canada.”
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And that information has been available on CGI’s Canadian website all along.
Like ‘The Big Engine That Couldn’t’, healthcare.gov is wearing the ‘System Failure’ sign two weeks after its launch.
Those blankety-blank glitches that keep healthcare.gov in goof mode are not the fault of George W. Bush. Now it’s Canada’s fault. That’s the Obama administration’s story and they’re sticking to it.
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