Oregon settles lawsuit for botched health care rollout

(AP) — Oregon settled with a California software giant in a lawsuit that accused Oracle America Inc. of collecting tens of millions of dollars to create a state health care exchange website that didn't work.

The state initially asked for more than $6 billion in punitive damages when it filed the lawsuit in 2014 against the Redwood Shores, California company, but Oregon ultimately accepted a package that included $35 million in cash payments and software licensing agreements and technical support with an estimated upfront worth of $60 million.

Most of the money used to pay Oracle was from federal funds designated to help states comply with the new health care law and that is likely why the settlement relies mostly on non-cash value, said David Friedman, an associate professor of law at Willamette University who has closely followed the litigation.

Six years of unlimited Oracle software and technical support included in the deal will save the state hundreds of millions of dollars in years to come and ends a bitter legal battle that has damaged Oregon's "collective psyche," Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a statement.