State welfare screener draws more fire 60 in the House urge head of HHS to cancel contract

July 13, 2006, 2:17PM
By CLAY ROBISON
Copyright 2006
Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau


AUSTIN - Sixty members of the Texas House, Republicans and Democrats, Wednesday called for the state to cancel a controversial, $899 million privatization contract to screen applicants for public assistance programs.

Their letter to Health and Human Services Commissioner Albert Hawkins, however, followed on the heels of a competing letter, signed by 30 Republican legislators, including several members of House Speaker Tom Craddick's leadership team, urging Hawkins to continue his agency's privatization transition.

The dueling messages mark the latest episode in a continuing furor over the privatization of health and human service programs, including the contract with Accenture LLP, a company hired to screen applicants for children's health insurance and other assistance programs.

Hawkins, an appointee of Gov. Rick Perry, said through a spokeswoman that he remained committed to the privatization effort, part of a massive reorganization of health and human services agencies ordered by the Legislature in 2003.

Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said the governor "is not pleased that the company (Accenture) hasn't been able to address the issues as quickly as contemplated" but didn't support canceling the contract.

Accenture, which manages a consortium of subcontractors called Texas Access Alliance, has been under attack for weeks from social services advocates and some legislators, who say low-income Texans are losing benefits because of inadequate staffing and training at private call centers.

Hawkins has canceled plans to lay off hundreds of state workers who were to have been replaced by contract employees.

And Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn has made Accenture's performance an issue in her independent race for governor, announcing two months ago that she would investigate the contract.

Spokeswoman Jill Angelo said Texas Access Alliance was working with the state to meet its requirements and has made "significant progress over the past several months to improve performance."

State Rep. Patrick Haggerty, R-El Paso, said he and 59 colleagues seeking the contract's cancellation are concerned about the Bermuda-based company's "poor performance during the pilot phase of the project and want to protect (our) communities and constituents from similar calamities."

The letter, dated Wednesday and written on Haggerty's letterhead, was signed by 11 other Republicans and 48 Democrats. It urged Hawkins to use the contract money to "rebuild a community-based system that works and does not waste tax dollars on broken contractual promises."

The competing letter, signed by state Rep. John Davis, R-Houston, and 29 other Republicans, was faxed to Hawkins on Monday. Davis, the budget and oversight chairman for the House Human Services Committee, said the timing wasn't coincidental.

He said he learned the Haggerty letter was being circulated and wanted to assure Hawkins that many lawmakers supported the agency's privatization efforts.

"We recognize that the new system has experienced challenges. Frankly, this is not unexpected given the size of this transformation," Davis said in his letter.

But, he said, the agency's pilot program in Travis and Hays counties was the first step toward modernizing the application process.

"So far, more than 540,000 Travis and Hays residents have accessed the pilot program by phone and over 5,000 people statewide have applied for benefits online. These early results prove Texans want access to these services through modern means," Davis added.

Spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said Hawkins "certainly understands the concerns about performance but remains committed to the long-term goals of the program, which are to create a system that works better and is more efficient."

Haggerty said lawmakers were alarmed by the report of dozens of Texans "who slipped through the cracks" after their Medicaid and food stamp applications were faxed into a "black hole" in Seattle.

The Houston Chronicle reported last month that dozens of applications with personal and medical financial data were mistakenly faxed by applicants to a warehouse in Seattle after a wrong number was listed on an information sheet.

clay.robison@chron.com