Accenture lead contractor for troubled Obamacare website

Global consulting firm Accenture has won a $45-million contract to run the problematic Obamacare health insurance enrollment website that crashed on its launch in October.

Accenture has been chosen to replace CGI Federal to run the website, HealthCare.gov, launched by the US government for millions of Americans shopping for health insurance, the White House and Accenutre said.

The website, a key part of US President Barack Obama's sweeping healthcare law, crashed on its October 1 launch. The website's disastrous debut created a political crisis for Mr Obama and the Democrats.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it has awarded Accenture Federal Services a one-year contract to continue technical improvements to the health insurance marketplace website.

"We are honored to be part of the team of technology and healthcare companies and government professionals helping the federal government meet the healthcare coverage needs of its citizens," Accenture Federal Services chief executive David Moskovitz said.

"Accenture will bring deep healthcare industry insight as well as proven experience building large-scale, public-facing websites to continue improving HealthCare.gov."

After reviewing over a dozen firms, CMS selected Accenture for the contract for the initial phase of the project, which includes a transition plan to define the work required.

"The contract will be based on mutually agreed upon work plans, which will help define the final value of the one-year contract," Arlington-based Accenture said in a statement.

Accenture also will develop new capabilities required for future phases of programme implementation, it said. 

In November, Mr Obama said he deserves the blame of angry Americans for a debacle that has cast a shadow over his presidency and left Democrats anxious about the 2014 elections.

"I think it's legitimate for (Americans) to expect me to have to win back some credibility. And, you know, that's on me. I mean, we fumbled the rollout on this," he had said on the collapse of the website on its launch.      

Accenture Federal Services, a US company, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Accenture LLP. The company generated net revenues of $28.6 billion for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2013.