Obamacare whistleblower: $1.2B spent in part on data workers who do nothing

A $1.2 billion taxpayer-funded contract that’s gone toward an Obamacare enrollment processing center in Missouri is being spent in part to hire data entry workers to basically sit at their computers and do nothing, a whistleblower told a local television station.

“Their goals are set to process two applications per month and some people are not even able to do that,” the employee said to KMOV-TV, explaining how the processing of paper applications is supposed to proceed.

The whistleblower, who remained anonymous during the interview, works for the Wentzville facility that’s operated by British-based Serco. That firm was given a $1.2 billion contract, some of which was supposed to pay for 1,500 new hires to process paper applications, The Washington Post reported.

But apparently, weeks go by and data entry workers sit idle — and that’s because they haven’t received any paper applications to process, the whistleblower said. So instead, these workers stare at their computer screens all day, Fox News reported.

“They’re told to sit at their computers and hit the refresh button every 10 minutes — no more than every 10 minutes,” the employee said. “They’re monitored, to hopefully look for an application.”

At the same time, Serco continues to be compensated for each new hire, the worker said.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare told KMOV-TV that “Serco is committed to making sure federal funds are spent appropriately and the number of Serco staff is reviewed on a regular basis.”