‘Dual’ Talk From Mass. Health Connector Execs
By Chris Cassidy, Boston Herald | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Health Connector officials are seeking
Connector officials have said publicly that repairing the state website is job one. But an internal document presented to the fed-eral
The document states that even "if (the federal) track" -- the transition to HealthCare.gov -- "is determined to be behind schedule and cannot be rectified," the Connector will "suspend hCentive track" and "focus on (the federal track) only."
That private strategy is likely to play well with the feds, who are pressuring failing states to scrap their botched websites and join HealthCare.gov. Meanwhile, publicly pushing the hCentive plan as top priority appears to be designed to assure taxpayers the state site will be fixed, while also appeasing health care advocates who want to keep the customized complexities of the
But that apparent doubletalk is raising eyebrows among professionals in the health care industry.
"You can't succeed if you have two number-one priorities, no matter how much money you're going to spend," said a source with know-ledge of the document. "The Connector is telling the feds what they want to hear, which is going federal is the top priority, and telling people in
Health care expert
"It is a big deal from the perspective that they realize how unlikely it is that hCentive will be able to accomplish the goal of setting up a bare-bones website by the end of this year," Archambault said. "In other words, they are signing up taxpayers to spend over
A Health Connector official, who confirmed the document's authenticity, said it's part of "an ongoing conversation" with the feds and that no decisions have been made yet.
"We know they are going to want to see equal amounts of progress on both tracks, if not more progress on the (federal) side of things, because they have a higher confidence in the (federal system), and rightfully so, because it's working," the official said.
The official -- who denied the Connector is engaging in doubletalk -- added that if all else fails, hCentive will still rebuild the state system for the 2016 open enrollment, even if it's pulled off-line next year.
In a statement, Connector spokesman
HCentive officials have not returned repeated calls and emails from the Herald over the past two weeks, including yesterday.
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