CoverOregon, the state insurance exchange up in Oregon that will not be functional until open enrollment ends at the end of this month, “has been earmarked for more than $300 million in funding, much of which has come from the federal government.”
For perspective on that sum, for less than $300 million, a state could have purchased any one of the 22 least expensive National Hockey League franchises, based upon Forbes’s estimate of their value in 2012.
But by some measures, it is a bargain.
Back in December, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said the information-technology costs for the HealthCare.gov website totaled $677 million. For that amount of money, taxpayers could have purchased the Detroit Tigers ($643 million) or any one of 18 other Major League Baseball clubs.