HHS skimped on oversight for Obamacare contractors, audit finds

As the government was hiring dozens of contractors to build its now-infamous ObamaCare website, it skipped crucial steps that federal auditors now say could have prevented some of the chaos. Lax oversight and poor planning had plagued the rollout of HealthCare.gov from the start, according to a report released Tuesday from the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS). Out of six contracts examined by the inspector general's office, only two had been properly vetted before the government gave the greenlight. Most of the contracts also lacked cost estimates and signatures from agency officials to sign off on the project. Additionally, the government often picked a type of contract — cost-reimbursement — that were financially risky for the government.