Audit reveals what we already knew about Healthcare.gov failure

Government oversight fails? That's no surprise. What is, though, is the same government, albeit a separate division, admitting it. Of course, their admission is framed in the past tense of what 'went' wrong, but don't fool yourself into believing there's an expiration date on this incompetency...

TheVerge: According to a new audit, the government employees responsible for managing $600 million in contracts to build Healthcare.gov suffered from major lapses in training and leadership.

The audit, reported on today by Bloomberg, was conducted by the inspector general of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, which handles federal health care programs. The review focused on 20 contracts worth a combined $600 million, 70 percent of which has been allocated, and found some major missteps in the process, starting even before the website's well-publicized IT woes.

According to Bloomberg, the audit found that CMS skipped a required 96-hour training period for employees overseeing contracts worth more than $10 million. Despite not even having the training required to oversee a contract worth $25,000, the audit found, one employee was managing a contract worth $130 million for at least 15 months. Federal standards for training won't be met until October of next year.

And that's only 20 contracts! By next October, nothing will change.

Related link: Audit Details Lapses in CMS Oversight Prior to HealthCare.gov Launch