Free Republic

The federal government is recommending the state of Colorado repay $9.7 million in grant funds it says were not properly managed in the creation of its Obamacare health insurance exchange. […] The government concludes the Colorado marketplace did not adequately document costs that it charged to the establishment grants ($4.4 million); charged grants for unallowable contract costs ($4.5 million); improperly transferred costs from one establishment grant to another ($312,000); and improperly awarded bonuses, overpayments, unallowable promotional giveaway items, excessive and unreasonable tips, vendor rebates that were not credited to the establishment grants, and unallowable social activities ($463,000). …

Nearly twice as many people are expected to drop out of Colorado’s state-run health care exchange in the coming years than originally projected, leading to nearly $2 million lost in associated fees for the financially embattled program over the next two years. Connect for Health Colorado originally projected that 13 percent of enrollees will either leave the exchange in fiscal 2015 or fail to pay their bills, but now they project the figure to be as high as 24 percent, according to the Denver Post. If that’s the case, the exchange will lose out on about $1 million in fees...

Colorado health-exchange director on paid leave DENVER — A director with Colorado's health-care exchange is on paid leave after it was discovered she has been accused of stealing from a nonprofit housing organization she oversaw in Montana. Christa McClure is the director of partner engagement for Connect for Health Colorado, the state program that implements the Affordable Care Act. According to the Denver Post, program spokesman Ben Davis says in her Colorado job, McClure does not have access to any of exchange's finances. The eight-count indictment against McClure was filed in U.S. District Court in Billings, Mont., in January.