JUST FOLLOW THE MONEY...... They say if you follow the money then you’ll find yourself irate and experiencing a visceral reaction. As it turns out, CGI, a Canadian business-marketing firm, which took the largest slice of Healthcare.gov’s more than $300 million price tag, has been lobbying Congress for years. According to CNN, Canadian firm CGI Group, took the prize. It received $88 million through last March 31. Its original $93.7 million contract runs through December, with three one-year option periods still possible. Revelations that the Canadian based company was recently fired by the Canadian government for their failed record with Canadian healthcare websites prompted more independent research. As it turns out, the company has been lobbying Congress since 2009 with specific interests paid to “Health Care reform-H.R. 3926 (Obamacare), Government IT Systems & Federally-Facilitated Health Exchange.” The company’s lobbying work is represented by Holland & Knight LLP. In total, the group has spent $1 million since their federally sponsored healthcare lobbying efforts began in 2009. The firm has been pumping money in at an increased rate since President Obama took office. The firm has spent $2 million lobbying Congress since 2003- fifty percent of which was spent in the last 4 years. The group has donated $1.5 million to congressional elections, Super PACs, and presidential campaigns since 2000. The majority of donations over the past few election cycles have gone to democrats. The company’s initial $1 million “investment” paid off by way of a $94 million contract to build a broken website. Not a bad return when you consider the fact that the company uses 10-year-old technology. Rather than hold CGI accountable, reports claim that the Obama administration is going to spend more money to bring in Verizon to help fix the website.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:43:21 +0000
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