Gallego: Fix Healthcare.gov and Give Taxpayers a Refund
Washington, D.C.: Congressman Pete P. Gallego (TX-23) today wrote U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder raising concerns about the healthcare.gov website. The Congressman requested a thorough review of government contracts associated with the website and any potential legal remedies, including a refund of government payments to the companies involved. Representatives Sinema, Barber, Vela and Enyart joined in the letter.
The letter states, “Clearly, the website was not ready for the traffic it received. In the weeks since its opening, the website has never performed as expected or promised. As a result, we ask that you review the contracts and determine whether CGI Federal and/or any other company involved in the construction of the website has violated the terms of its agreement or is in constructive breach of the contract.”
“When a consumer buys a defective product, that consumer generally has the opportunity to get his or her money back. In this case, it would appear that the companies involved in designing the website have provided a non-functioning, or at least a minimally functioning product. The government should not pay for a product that doesn’t work,” said Congressman Gallego. “The website should work – and Americans should be able to use it and navigate it – or we should get our money back, plain and simple.”
The text of the letter sent by Congressman Gallego and lawmakers is below.
October 24, 2013
The Honorable Eric Holder
Attorney General of the United States
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Attorney General Holder:
We write today to express our deep concerns over contracts our government engaged in to create the website known as HealthCare.gov. It is no secret that the website has not performed in a satisfactory manner. There are countless reports of people waiting hours to get through the site only to have the system crash once they have successfully logged in.
Clearly, the website was not ready for the traffic it received. In the weeks since its opening, the website has never performed as expected or promised. As a result, we ask that you review the contracts and determine whether CGI Federal and/or any other company involved in the construction of the website has violated the terms of its agreement or is in constructive breach of the contract.
Specifically, we ask that you pursue any and all remedies up to and including a refund of any and all monies paid to the contractors for a website that doesn’t work. If the government has purchased faulty or defective services, the taxpayers deserve and should demand their money back.
We respectfully urge a full and thorough review of all the contracts the government engaged in to create HealthCare.gov and seek to hold contractors accountable for their unsatisfactory work. We look forward to a timely response.
Sincerely,
Pete P. Gallego
Member of Congress
Kyrsten Sinema
Member of Congress
Ron Barber
Member of Congress
William L. Enyart
Member of Congress
Filemon Vela
Member of Congress
