A settlement has been reached between the state of Oregon and Oracle Corp in the state lawsuit against the technology company. It marks the end of a five-year debacle characterized by wasted tax dollars, incompetence, and dysfunction.

The whole project began in 2011, when Oregon signed a deal with Oracle to build and operate Cover Oregon, the state’s health exchange under Obamacare. Oregon intended to launch the exchange in the fall of 2013, and they set a series of deadlines along the way for Oracle to meet in pursuit of that goal.

Broken Promises

Unfortunately, according to the state, “Oracle broke its promises, missing every promised date.” Shortly after the exchange’s failed launch, Oregon filed a 2014 lawsuit for $240 million. The reason? After paying Oracle over $100 million to build and manage the state exchange, Oregon ended up having to hire hundreds of additional employees to manually enroll Oregonians in the health program, because the exchange wasn’t ready on time and never worked as was promised.

All in all, Oregon spent about $300 million in wasted money trying to get Cover Oregon functional. The many problems were mirrored on both sides of the transaction, between both the state of Oregon and Oracle. Finally, the legal case spawned by this disastrous faux pas has been put to rest.

The Settlement

Ultimately, the settlement Oracle agreed to was a compensation package worth $100 million. The total is broken down into cash and software services, including $60 million worth of customer service support for Medicaid and social service computer programs. Oracle also gave Oregon a six-year state license for business enterprise software.

The compensation from the settlement is welcome relief for the state, but perhaps the best news about the agreement is that it officially ends taxpayer expense related to the problematic health exchange program. For a simple health insurance and affordable coverage, contact your local health insurance agent at Bisnett today.