North Dakota Company Accused Of Concelaing "Lack Of Relevant Expertise" In Obamacare Fight

I’ve written before about Noridian Healthcare Solutions, a Fargo-based company of which Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota (the state’s largest health insurer) is a subsidiary, finding itself in hot water over Maryland’s failed Obamacare exchange.

The food fight has migrated from the political arena to court rooms, and now one of the subcontractors on the exchange project is accusing Noridian of not knowing what they were doing:

Escalating a bitter feud, EngagePoint alleged that Noridian Healthcare Solutions had no experience in developing the type of software the exchange would need. EngagePoint also said Noridian “lacked the expertise, resources and commitment actually required” to develop and operate the Web site through which Marylanders were supposed to sign up for insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act.

Noridian fired EngagePoint in October, and the two companies — which are suing each other in federal court in Baltimore — are fighting over employees, money and work that remains to be completed.

Noridian’s president and chief executive, Tom McGraw, said in a written statement Friday afternoon that the firm had reviewed EngagePoint’s new filings and believes “the statements are false, unsupportable and will be contradicted by evidence that we present in court and arbitration.” He also wrote that the pending case precluded Noridian from discussing details about the relationship between the two companies.

Noridian has been accused of being better at politics than building an online insurance exchange. I guess the courts will decide whether or not that’s the case, but meanwhile the exchange is still a disaster.