Legislators want welfare agency to explain woes

Web Posted: 05/11/2006 12:00 AM CDT

Guillermo X. GarciaExpress-News Staff Writer

Lawmakers pressed the state's welfare agency Wednesday to answer questions they have raised over a troubled state plan to privatize parts of the agency's eligibility system for assistance programs.

Legislators said they are angry and concerned with ongoing problems in the state's effort to streamline the processing and screening of welfare applications.

The lawmakers were reacting to a move made effective Wednesday by the Health and Human Services Commission that will have state employees performing intake functions that were being done by Texas Access Alliance, a group of companies led by Accenture LLP, a Bermuda-based private company.

They also want to know how much the state has paid under its $899 million, five-year contract with Accenture, which contracted to take on the processing of applications for such programs as Texas' low-cost insurance program for children, Medicaid and food stamps via the Internet or through four call centers.

Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said he was so bothered by "this experiment with people's lives that is simply not working," that he will introduce a bill that would nullify the Accenture contract.

Also Wednesday, Reps. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, and Carter Casteel, R-New Braunfels, wrote in a letter to Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn that they are "deeply concerned about the viability of the agency's plans as they are currently conceived."

They asked Strayhorn's office to investigate whether the state is properly overseeing Accenture and to find out how much Accenture has been paid and how much work it has completed.

"We believe the people of Texas deserve a closer look at the HHSC integrated eligibility plan," they wrote. "Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are funding a problem-plagued plan that threatens the health and safety of our citizens."

Strayhorn, who is running for governor as an independent and is a harsh critic of Gov. Rick Perry, jumped on the request.

"The Accenture contract appears to be the perfect storm of wasted tax dollars, reduced access to services for our most vulnerable Texans and profiteering" at taxpayer expense, she said.

In yanking some of the contractor's functions, HHSC acknowledged that it has encountered a host of unforeseen problems and that a fix will take longer than expected.

Detractors of Accenture's work point to a decline in enrollment numbers as proof that the new system is not working.

Statewide, the rolls of the Children's Health Insurance Program have dropped from more than 500,000 in 2004 to nearly 330,000 this year. There are 1.3 million uninsured children in Texas, according to the U.S. Census.

"To say that the program is not working is not accurate. This is truly a disaster," Hinojosa said.
"Whatever savings the state is going to realize, it is going to come off the disenfranchised people who are not getting the service because of all the snafus."

The rollout of the program, following a pilot program in Travis and Hays counties, has been placed on hold indefinitely, and state workers have taken over some of the work the private company was performing.

In signing the contract, Texas officials last year predicted that the state would save $646 million over five years.

It is not clear how much the state now projects it will save.

Uresti said he wants HHS Commissioner Albert Hawkins "to terminate this contract, or present us with a backup plan that works, because I fear that Texas taxpayers are going to be left holding the bag" if projected savings are not realized.

ggarcia@express-news.net