IBM to Pay Nearly $15 Million for Issues Tied to Maryland's Health Exchange - Update
June 14 2019 - 3:20PM
Dow Jones News
By Patrick Thomas
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) has agreed to pay
$14.8 million to settle allegations regarding misrepresentations
made about software capabilities and other technical issues that
hurt the Maryland online health exchange.
Federal prosecutors said Friday that IBM and its unit, Curam
Software Ltd., provided software and services as a subcontractor on
a project to develop the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, a
platform built to help individuals and small businesses shop for
medical insurance.
In 2014, the state of Maryland cited problems with software from
Curam, an Irish company that IBM acquired in 2011, used to
determine consumers' eligibility for Medicaid and premium tax
credits for private insurance. Some consumers' applications for
coverage were lost or suspended in Curam's system, said Joshua
Sharfstein, Maryland's secretary of health and mental hygiene back
in 2014.
The settlement resolves misrepresentations allegedly made by
during the bidding process regarding the development status of
Curam's software, and its ability to meet the state's technical
requirements, such as addressing life events and calculating tax
credits, the Justice Department said Friday. Prosecutors said
repeated problems followed the launch of the exchange website in
October 2013.
An IBM spokesman said the company denies the government's claims
of wrongdoing. "We have agreed to the settlement to avoid further
delay and the expense of protracted litigation in this six-year
dispute," he said.
The Justice Department said the settlement was reached without a
determination of liability.
The primary contractor hired to build the health exchange
website, Fargo, N.D.-based Noridian Healthcare Solutions LLC,
settled with the state for about $45 million for its role in the
botched rollout.
Write to Patrick Thomas at patrick.thomas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 14, 2019 15:05 ET (19:05 GMT)
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