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Dispatches from public radio's correspondent at the Oregon Legislature. This is a venue for political and policy coverage of the state government in Salem and its impact on the people of Oregon.

Oregon Lawmakers Vote To Dissolve Health Insurance Exchange

Cover Oregon
Cover Oregon, the state's health exchange, could seen be dismantled.

Oregon's troubled health insurance exchange is one step closer to being dismantled.

The Oregon House Friday signed off on a measure to disband Cover Oregon. Lawmakers like Republican Bill Kennemer all but said, "I told you so."

"I didn't vote years ago for the exchange,” he said. “I had some concerns that it was over-reaching. Perhaps I was right, I don't know. But what we do know is that what happened didn't work."

Even Democrats who voted to create the exchange are now calling it "an unfortunate chapter" in the state's history.

The Cover Oregon website never fully functioned and state officials scrambled to sign people up for health insurance via pen and paper. Now, the state and technology contractor Oracle are pointing fingers in court over Cover Oregon's failures.

The bill to do away with it now heads to the desk of Governor Kate Brown, who's expressed support for it.