Oregon has long been a pacesetter in health care, and state officials laid out bold plans to uphold that reputation with a health insurance exchange bigger and better than anyone else's.
But more than a month after Cover Oregon's online enrollment was supposed to launch, reality is lagging far behind Governor John Kitzhaber's grand vision.
The online system still doesn't work, and the exchange has yet to enroll a single person in health insurance.
Interviews with state officials and a review of public records suggest Cover Oregon officials bit off more than they could chew and clung to their ambitious vision even when their risk management consultants raised alarms.
Now, the state is forced to hire 400 workers in a scramble to process applications by hand.
