PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- HealthSource RI, the state's version of the online health insurance website mandated by Obamacare, received the green light Tuesday to begin seeking new office space to house up to 50 workers.
The State Properties Committee voted to allow the state agency to request bid proposals for a 15,000-square-foot office space in Providence.
Meetesh Kumar, HealthSource RI's financial officer, told the committee that the agency, which currently has nine full-time government workers split between the State House and the Department of Administration building across Smith Street, wants to move into the new space as soon as possible.
The planned new office would need to house government workers, private contractors and be able to accommodate visitors, he said.
"To not have a public place and everybody together really makes it hard for us to even function," Kumar said. "That's why I'm really trying to push this through."
HealthSourceRI spokesman Ian Lang has said the agency could not find suitable office space in either state-owned properties like the state government complex in Cranston, or in HealthSourceRI's privately run customer service center on Royal Little Drive in Providence.
Opened on Oct. 1, that center currently sees an average of about 100 walk-in customers a day and is run by Connextions, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group that has about 75 on site.
The agency is hoping to secure a five-year lease and has requested from Governor Chafee's administration about $659,200 in the budget year that starts July 1, 2014 to pay for it.