Where is Anthony?

Lt. Governor silent on continued failures of his Health Exchange as Conn. Exchange errors lead to thousands of cancelations.

Annapolis, MD – Until the Maryland Health Benefits Exchange exploded on its launch pad last October, Anthony Brown was the $125,000,000 website's outspoken leader and staunchest advocate. Since its spectacular failure however, the Lt. Governor has been virtually mum.

During today's Joint Oversight Committee on the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, Lt. Governor Brown was noticeably absent from the proceedings, with Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene, Joshua Sharfstein, at the helm. Although Sharfstein said, "there has been a tremendous amount of progress to this point," Exchange officials presented little if any evidence to support his claim. In fact, Secretary of Technology Isabel FitzGerald admitted she had "no idea" of the cost for the state's update to the Connecticut exchange.

"It seems the only thing we've learned from this committee meeting is that there are no goals, no understanding of costs, no reliable enrollment numbers, and no idea when, if ever, this monstrosity will be functioning," said GOP gubernatorial candidate Larry Hogan.

The hearing comes a day after it was reported that the Connecticut Exchange, lauded by the Maryland officials as a $40 to $50 million dollar life raft for their useless system, had inexplicably cancelled thousands of insurance policies.

"Anthony Brown is pegging his promotion to governor on the notion that he’s learned from his mistakes on the rollout of the Health Exchange. Yet from secret meetings, missed deadlines, sketchy contracting and evasive answers, his administration seems to be retracing every misstep from the past several years.” Hogan said.

The Anne Arundel businessman reiterated his belief that the Exchange should be scrapped in favor of having residents use the now functioning federal exchange and private marketplaces for health insurance.