Oregon's health insurance exchange will formally close thanks to a bill Gov. Kate Brown signed Friday to shutter the site.
The announcement was expected. Cover Oregon has been using HealthCare.gov to sign up individuals for coverage since the start of the second open-enrollment period. State officials announced last spring that they intended to shut the site following numerous technical woes.
HHS gave Oregon $305 million to create the site, federal records show. Oregon and Oracle Corp., which created the site, are suing each other over the botched rollout. Each is accusing the other of breach of contract.
Oregon's Senate voted 42-14 last month on a bill to kill the site, sending it to Brown to sign.
"Oregon has wasted too much money on expensive failures like Cover Oregon," Sen. Chuck Thomsen (R-Hood River) said in a statement.
“It is abundantly clear that the Cover Oregon name has become a stain on our state's otherwise remarkable reputation at innovation in healthcare,” Sen. Alan Bates (D-Medford) said in a statement. “I am happy to see us move on.”
Late last year, Nevada also announced it was dismantling its exchange and relying on HealthCare.gov to determine eligibility for applicants. Now, only 13 states and the District of Columbia are operating state-based exchanges.
Follow Virgil Dickson on Twitter: @MHVDickson
