Contractor For Maryland Health Exchange Website To Pay $45M

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- Tens of millions of your dollars were shelled out for a website that never worked. Now the state is getting money back from the company in charge of making Maryland's failed Healthcare Exchange website.

Meghan McCorkell has details on the settlement.

The state will receive $45 million from Noridian Healthcare Solutions---just over half of what it paid for the flawed website.

From day one, Maryland's multi-million dollar Healthcare Exchange website was a bust.

"It's discouraging," said one resident. "Frustrating."

Now the company at the helm of the failed site, Noridian Healthcare Solutions, has agreed to pay the state $45 million to avoid legal action.

Attorney General Brian Frosh is happy the case didn't go to court.

"There's absolutely no guarantee we would have gotten a penny. We were very concerned that Noridian would not survive as a company and therefore not be able to pay," he said.

Noridian will pay Maryland $20 million upfront, then $5 million yearly for the next five years---totaling $45 million.

The botched website delayed thousands from applying for health insurance.

"We had complaints that people called five, 10, 15 times. They tried to get one...they couldn't get through the system, no matter what they tried," said Rep. Andy Harris.

Congressman Andy Harris still has more questions.

"We still haven't gotten to the bottom of who is responsible at the state level for the poor oversight of Noridian," he said.

Under the settlement, Noridian does not have to accept responsibility or liability for the website errors. The company released a statement saying in part, "Despite the difficulties in Maryland, NHS delivered numerous technical enhancements to the Maryland exchange that allowed the state to exceed its overall enrollment goals for 2013-2014."

Still, state leaders say the settlement speaks for itself.

Congressman Harris says there have been far fewer complaints about the new exchange website.

The attorney general's office continues to investigate other companies involved in the development and implementation of the website.