Republicans and Democrats alike are scrambling to join the chorus calling for the demise of Cover Oregon. They’re less clear on how dividing Cover Oregon’s duties between two Oregon agencies would solve its myriad problems.

We’re certainly not defenders of the exchange or its semi-independent public corporation structure. Shutting it down might be the right thing to do.

But a few critical facts are getting lost in the political frenzy:

• The problems for the exchange’s website started long before Cover Oregon had control of it.

• The Oregon Health Authority was in charge of construction of the website, as well as its contract problems with Oracle, as well as the decision not to hire a technology general contractor to oversee the project.

• That same Health Authority miscalculated its finances, ran out of money and dumped the troubled exchange into Cover Oregon’s lap in May 2013, just months before it was supposed to go live.

Although plenty has gone wrong since then, it’s fair to say the seeds of destruction were planted under the Health Authority. But now that same Health Authority is being touted as the savior to whom major parts of the project should be returned. Other parts might go to the Oregon Insurance Division.

Gov. John Kitzhaber — clearly the person most responsible for setting this fiasco in motion and failing to monitor its progress — declared last week that the exchange should be turned over to state agencies. He spoke on the same day the Cover Oregon Board was discussing its own future and whether it should recommend its own dissolution to the Legislature. Senate President and fellow Democrat Peter Courtney quickly stepped up, saying he would introduce a bill to dissolve Cover Oregon.

Republicans who joined in included Sen. Ted Ferrioli of John Day, Betsy Close of Albany and Andy Olsen of Canby. We think House Republican Leader Mike McLane of Powell Butte was on target when he attributed Courtney’s action to election-season politics.

A scant few months remain before signups for next year begin. It might be a poor time for a major overhaul of responsibilities. The state’s decision makers need to get serious about solutions that work rather than sound tough on the campaign trail.