We have not heard a lot in the news about MNsure as we have from some of the other states and IBM is not the head contractor here but the Minnesota is holding them responsible for the imageproblems since it appears that they lie within the areas of responsibility that IBM was covering.  We have heard a lot about Oregon and now the executive is resigning due to health issues permanently soon, although in most of those reportings it seems to be left out that all other contractors who bid withdrew except for Oracle when they saw how complex the project was with the state at the same time wanting to upgrade most of their social services too instead of just a project of building an insurance exchange, more details at the link below. 

Rocky King of Cover Oregon Resigns From Position Citing Medical Problems–The Exchange That Only Oracle Wanted As All Other Contractors Withdrew Their Bids Due to Extreme Complexities And Short Time To Do It

I’ll say it again “the short order computer code kitchen burned down years ago and there was no fire sale” which means in essence we have complexities today with integrated software that have never existed before and data no longer sits in silos.   So we can’t say that Oracle, IBM, and many other big names are not doing their job, it’s just a very difficult job and both governments and consumers are learning a real cold hard reality lesson about that fact today.  At HHS, we had the “Sebelius Syndrome” and there are most than just her that suffer from strange and non relative perceptions that allow them to get duped and duped again, that’s for sure. 

US Consumers and Government Are Learning a Cold Hard Reality Lesson About IT Infrastructure Complexities With Models and Algorithms Thanks to Health Insurance Exchanges

Funny this is where United Healthcare is located and they ran out to get to buy the company QSSI who did part of the Federal exchange project but we don’t see any action in their own home state do we.  I think it was worth a short mention as 1/3 of the corporate revenue comes from subsidiary companies, 15 pages listed at the SEC with software and coding, along with math models. 

Curam software which is an IBM subsidiary seems to be at the root of the issues from what I am reading here which they bought in 2011 and is also a big government contractor.  Again we come back to the short time frame and the fact that many thought there were some algorithms fairies out there drifting around but they all found out they don’t really exist and with complexities today, it’s not like the old days of just a few years ago.  BD 


Add Minnesota's state-run MNsure website to the list of troubled health insurance exchanges. The site launched October 1, but it's plagued by problems that Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton is pinning largely on software from IBM.

In a five-page letter sent to IBM CEO Virginia Rometty on December 13 and made public by the governor's office on Friday, Dayton detailed 21 specific problems tied to IBM's Curam software. "Your product has not delivered promised functionality and has seriously hindered Minnesotans' abilities to purchase health insurance or apply for public health care programs through MNsure," Dayton wrote. "I request that you immediately deploy whatever people or resources are needed to correct the defects in your product that are preventing Minnesotans from obtaining health insurance through MNsure."

Maximus, of Reston, Va., is the lead contractor on the $46 million project, while IBM’s Curam software determines each applicant's eligibility for Medicaid and state and federal subsidies and tax credits. Acquired by IBM in 2011, Curam software is designed specifically for health and social program management, and IBM says it's used in more than 80 government projects around the world.

"For weeks now, Minnesotans have received conflicting information from MNsure about whether they have coverage, what coverage they have and how many more hoops they have to jump through to obtain coverage," Davids told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "Enough is enough -- what happened to 'the buck stops here'?"

http://www.informationweek.com/software/enterprise-applications/minnesota-slams-ibm-on-health-insurance-exchange-woes/d/d-id/1113321

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