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Oregon Lawmakers Vote To Dissolve Health Insurance Exchange

The state of Oregon has decided to scrap its troubled health insurance exchange website.
Cover Oregon
The state of Oregon has decided to scrap its troubled health insurance exchange website.

Oregon's troubled health insurance exchange is one step closer to being dismantled.

The Oregon House Friday signed off on a measure to disband Cover Oregon. Lawmakers like Republican Bill Kennemer all but said, "I told you so."

"I didn't vote years ago for the exchange,” he said. “I had some concerns that it was over-reaching. Perhaps I was right, I don't know. But what we do know is that what happened didn't work."

Even Democrats who voted to create the exchange are now calling it "an unfortunate chapter" in the state's history.

The Cover Oregon website never fully functioned and state officials scrambled to sign people up for health insurance via pen and paper. Now, the state and technology contractor Oracle are pointing fingers in court over Cover Oregon's failures.

The bill to do away with it now heads to the desk of Governor Kate Brown, who's expressed support for it.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman has been reporting on Oregon issues since 2006. He joined the KLCC news department in December 2018 and became News Director in March 2023. Chris was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and graduated from Temple University with a degree in journalism. His public broadcasting career includes stops in Louisiana and Illinois. Chris has filed for national programs including “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.”