Oregon Senate GOP: Cover Oregon probe must include Lawson

Oregon Senate Republicans

Legislature should use subpoena if First Data won’t 

Salem, OR – Following a revealing report by KATU, Senate Republicans are demanding that investigations into Cover Oregon’s failures must include a thorough interview of former Cover Oregon Chief Information Officer Carolyn Lawson.

“Citizens deserve a full accounting of why Cover Oregon is one of the most dysfunctional health exchanges in the country,” said Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli (R-John Day). “There are too many questions about the money, relationships and chronic failure of leadership, and many of those questions can only be answered by Mrs. Lawson.”

The Governor has called for an independent investigation by a company called First Data into what went wrong at Cover Oregon. Strangely, as KATU reports, Carolyn Lawson is not among the list of key stake holders to be interviewed by First Data. Carolyn Lawson was the Chief Information Officer of Cover Oregon until she resigned amidst controversy late last year.

“If the Governor won’t ensure that Carolyn Lawson is interviewed by First Data, the Legislature should exercise its power of subpoena to ensure that the public gets answers,” said Ferrioli.

The Cover Oregon website has spent over $200 million in taxpayer dollars and has yet to enroll a single individual. Both Executive Director Rocky King and CIO Carolyn Lawson have stepped down. There have been ongoing concerns regarding Lawson’s relationship with top contractor Oracle and other vendors, who have yet to deliver a working website. New internal documents may point to Cover Oregon misleading the federal government in order to acquire millions of dollars in funding.

“The loser in this situation is not just the taxpayer, but Oregon families who were hoping for access to affordable healthcare and still do not have it,” said Ferrioli.