--- title: Oregon Moves to Drop Health Exchange in Favor of Federal Marketplace description: The Oregon health exchange is seen as the worst of the more than one dozen state-run exchanges, and fed up officials recommended dumping it canonical: https://time.com/77696/oregon-health-exchange-federal/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-25T19:06:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:30:49.271Z article:section: Politics og:title: Oregon Moves to Drop Health Exchange in Favor of Federal Marketplace og:description: The Oregon health exchange is seen as the worst of the more than one dozen state-run exchanges, and fed up officials recommended dumping it og:url: https://time.com/77696/oregon-health-exchange-federal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaa19d14ef01b8ff/69868c99cd804d43aacca866/ap683398722889.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: John Kitzhaber og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Oregon Moves to Drop Health Exchange in Favor of Federal Marketplace twitter:description: The Oregon health exchange is seen as the worst of the more than one dozen state-run exchanges, and fed up officials recommended dumping it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaa19d14ef01b8ff/69868c99cd804d43aacca866/ap683398722889.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Oregon Dropping Health Exchange in Favor of Federal Marketplace > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=fc631c55-d89d-4a08-816f-a6905fee1c38&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Apr 25, 2014 7:06 PM UTC  Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber looks on during a news conference on March 20, 2014, in Salem, Ore. Kitzhaber announced that an independent review of Oregon's troubled health insurance exchange has found that a breakdown of management, an overly ambitious scope, and low quality of work by technology contractor Oracle Corp. are some of the reasons for Cover Oregon's failed launch. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber looks on during a news conference on March 20, 2014, in Salem, Ore. Kitzhaber announced that an independent review of Oregon's troubled health insurance exchange has found that a breakdown of management, an overly ambitious scope, and low quality of work by technology contractor Oracle Corp. are some of the reasons for Cover Oregon's failed launch. Kobbi R. Blair—AP by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Apr 25, 2014 7:06 PM UTC Oregon is [abandoning](http://time.com/77684/oregon-dropping-online-health-exchange-for-u-s-site/) its troubled online health exchange in favor of the federal website, becoming the first state to do so. Cover Oregon’s board approved Friday a recommendation that the state switch. The vote came after it was determined that fixing the state’s current system would cost $78 million, while switching to the federal system will cost between $6 million and $8 million, Cover Oregon official Alex Pettit told the AP. Oregon’s system isn’t yet fully functional seven months after its launch; residents remain unable to sign up for coverage in one sitting. Oregonians received a one-month signup extension due to problems with the site. Oregon, once considered to be at the forefront of the federal health care overhaul, created what is seen as the worst of more than a dozen state-generated exchanges, despite receiving $305 million in federal grants to fund its operations from 2011 on. \[[_AP_](http://time.com/77684/oregon-dropping-online-health-exchange-for-u-s-site/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/77696/oregon-health-exchange-federal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/77696/oregon-health-exchange-federal/"},"headline":"Oregon Dropping Health Exchange in Favor of Federal Marketplace","datePublished":"2014-04-25T19:06:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:30:49.271Z","description":"The Oregon health exchange is seen as the worst of the more than one dozen state-run exchanges, and fed up officials recommended dumping it after it was determined that fixing the state's current system would cost $78 million","url":"https://time.com/77696/oregon-health-exchange-federal/","keywords":["Healthcare"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaa19d14ef01b8ff/69868c99cd804d43aacca866/ap683398722889.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaa19d14ef01b8ff/69868c99cd804d43aacca866/ap683398722889.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Kitzhaber","caption":"John Kitzhaber","creditText":"Kobbi R. 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