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The cost to run a computer cloud that manages some technical requirements of President Obama’s landmark health care reform act has tripled to more than $35 million since the contract was first awarded in 2011, documents show.

The computer cloud stores the cost, coverage and performance data for insurance plans nationwide that power Healthcare.gov’s Plan Finder application. The application is designed for small businesses and individual consumers to compare health insurance options in their areas and for researchers to spot trends and irregularities in the health insurance marketplace.

Plan Finder data will also be used by state health insurance exchanges. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, which runs the website, is also hoping private sector developers will use the system to build new applications that serve consumers and businesses.

CMS awarded a $10.8 million contract to Verizon’s cloud computing division Terremark in April 2011 to design Plan Finder and move it from a pair of contractor-operated data centers in New Jersey and Arizona to CMS’ computer cloud, among other duties.

MORE AT http://www.nextgov.com/health/2013/09/cost-running-obamacare-data-site-has-tripled-2011/70210/?oref=river