LETTER FROM USDA TO HAWKINS

USDA

Albert Hawkins, Executive Commission
Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Office 7100, MCBH-1000
P.O. Box 13247
Austin, TX 78711

Dear Mr. Hawkins,

This letter is in response to your March 31, 2006 letter requesting retroactive funding approval from the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) for costs incurred by the Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System (TIERS)/Intergrated Eligibility and Enrollment Services (IEES) Project prior to November 7, 2005. These are costs which were incurred following the June 29, 2005 contract signing with Texas Access Alliance (Accenture).

We have carefully reviewed the circumstances involved in the overall TIERS/IEES Project and note that the State was aware of the requirement for FNS approval prior to the contract signing and FNS' requirement for prior approval of the Request for Procurement (RFP) before its release. In both cases, the State chose to move forward without prior approval despite knowledge of the associated requirement and the risk of losing federal financial participation without prior approvals.

In light of the above, we are denying the State's request for approval for retroactive funding for the period June 29, 2005 through November 6, 2005. If you would like to discuss this issue further, please contact me.

Sincerely,

(Signed by Esther Phillips for)
WILLIAM LUDWIG
Regional Administrator

cc: Gary Gumbert, TX HHSC
Aurora Lebrun, TX HHSC
Tim O'Connor, USDA, FNS
Rick Friedman, DHHS, CMS