Oregon Gov. Kitzhaber to seek 4th term; health care will likely be a campaign issue

Dec 11 2013

John Kitzhaber announced he intends to seek an unprecedented fourth term. In the background, his state continues to experience difficulties with Cover Oregon, the state's online insurance marketplace.

Los Angeles Times: Oregon Governor Opens Bid For 4th Term Despite Rocky Obamacare Rollout
When Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber announced his bid for a fourth term Monday, it was no surprise that he did so at an elementary school – a long way from the headquarters of Cover Oregon where software engineers are still trying to fix problems with the state's healthcare exchange and get it online (Reston, 12/9).

The Washington Post: Oregon's Kitzhaber Will Run For Fourth Term
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) will seek a fourth four-year term in office, he said Monday, kicking off a campaign likely to be dominated by health care and tax reform. ... Kitzhaber said Monday he would focus his campaign on education, implementation of health care reform, reducing the state's carbon output and creating new middle class jobs. Health care reform could prove a headache for the Democrat, who spearheaded the charge for a state-run portal that has been beset by technical problems. The Cover Oregon Web site has enrolled just 8,300 people after a rocky rollout stymied residents eager to sign up. Last week, Cover Oregon's executive director, who had been under fire for the glitches, said he would take a leave of absence for medical reasons (Wilson, 12/9).

USA Today: Oregon Gov Expects 'Slings And Arrows' On Health Care
Could the rocky rollout of an online health care exchange be a factor in a 2014 election? We're not talking about a race for Congress, but the race for governor in Oregon -; where Democratic incumbent John Kitzhaber announced Monday he will seek an unprecedented fourth term. Kitzhaber, who has already made Oregon history with his third term in office, said he expects to take "a few slings and arrows about the rocky rollout" of the Cover Oregon online insurance exchange (Camia, 12/9). 

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal looks at the Oregon website's problems.

The Wall Street Journal's CIO Journal: Cover Oregon CIO: Integrating Oracle Software Is 'Daunting'
More than two months after the Obamacare online health exchanges launched, Oregon has yet to enroll a single person online through its state exchange. The site's tech leader cited the challenges integrating primary contractor Oracle Corp.'s software as well as missed deadlines by the software maker and the state's own failure to hire a systems integrator as key reasons for Cover Oregon's continued dysfunction. These challenges, which persist today, mean the exchange won't be fully operational until after Jan. 1, 2014 (Boulton, 12/9).