May 24, 2006
Last week, Bush visited Yuma, Ariz., to tour a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border by Border Patrol buggy. Maybe Jorge was doing a little measuring for the $3.2 million-a-mile fence the Senate recently approved, which I guarantee will be really helpful.
Are they insane? As Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano observes, "Show me a 50-foot wall, and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder."
Of course, I am enchanted to discover that the entire project will be turned over to Raytheon, General Dynamics and other military contractors - think Halliburton with noncompetitive bids, anyone? Because this outsourcing stuff is just working like a charm. Another Republican solution.
Naturally, in Texas, national laboratory for bad government, we do it all first and worst. We started with this dandy plan to outsource applications and enrollment for social service programs such as food stamps and Medicaid. In theory, we were to save millions - though I never could understand it myself. You see, Texas has one of the cheapest state governments on the continent, but when we hire outside contractors, they expect to make a profit. Add profit, add cost. Oh well.
So the state hired this firm based in Bermuda on an $899 million five-year contract. So far, the health and human services commissioner has been forced to ask 1,000 state employees who were scheduled to be laid off by the end of the year not to leave after all - and to offer each of them a $1,800 bonus to stay. Oops.
Among other errors, the private consortium mistakenly dropped 6,000 children from the children's health insurance program. The state comptroller says the program is "a perfect storm of wasted dollars, reduced access to services and profiteering at the expense of Texas taxpayers.
"With a record like that, of course, Republicans want more outsourcing.
Ted Koppel suggests in The New York Times that we outsource war: "Blackwater and other leading security companies are seriously proposing to officials at very high levels of the government that their private forces could relieve a number of the burdens now being shouldered (or not) by American troops. ... There is every expectation that the fight against global terrorism and the most extreme forms of Islamic fundamentalism will last for many years. This is a war that will not necessarily require aircraft carriers, strategic bombers, fighter jets or heavily armored tanks. ... It is a war, indeed, that favors the highly mobile and adaptive fighting skills of the former Special Forces soldiers and other ex-commandos.
"This is a war that is being fought with the wrong tools - and, in Iraq, at the wrong time, in the wrong place and against the wrong enemy.
It never did call for tanks, jets or carriers - just a combination of good detectives and good intelligence. In other words, smart, clever people with language skills. All of which we have fully available to us because of ... immigration.
Lebanese, Iraqis, Iranians, Syrians, Pakistanis and Indonesians have all become Americans, and in so many cases we got the bravest of the brave - those who fought Saddam, the Ayatollah and Assad, Lebanese who saw their country torn apart by religious factions. These are Americans who know the culture and language of the Middle East and other Islamic countries, and who care deeply about how it all comes out.
By all means, reform immigration with this deep obeisance to the Republican right-wing nut faction and their open contempt for "foreigners." But do not pretend for one minute that it is not a craven political bow to racism - yes, I am actually calling them racists, although they pretend it hurts their feelings. Try reading their websites and see for yourself - and to nativism, to xenophobia and to Know-Nothingism. Just don't forget what you are throwing away in the process.
Molly Ivins writes a syndicated column in Texas.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
This was on the web...
This gave instructions to TWC regarding handling of HHSC cases.....it even gives instructions to call 211.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
Workforce Service DeliveryTechnical Assistance Bulletin #110
Program: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Choices and Food Stamp Employment and Training
Topic: Updates to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s New Eligibility System and Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System
Date: January 27, 2006
This Technical Assistance (TA) Bulletin provides Local Workforce Development Boards (Boards) with information on the rollout of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s (HHSC) New Eligibility System and the Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System (TIERS).
http://www.twc.state.tx.us/boards/tabull/ta110.pdf
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
Workforce Service DeliveryTechnical Assistance Bulletin #110
Program: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Choices and Food Stamp Employment and Training
Topic: Updates to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s New Eligibility System and Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System
Date: January 27, 2006
This Technical Assistance (TA) Bulletin provides Local Workforce Development Boards (Boards) with information on the rollout of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s (HHSC) New Eligibility System and the Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System (TIERS).
http://www.twc.state.tx.us/boards/tabull/ta110.pdf
FULL TEXT OF THE EMAIL SENT THROUGH HHSC - Addressed on hhscemployee's blog
bloggers' comments in red...
-----Original Message-----
From: Cox,Kathy [mailto:Kathy.Cox@hhsc.state.tx.us]
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 10:32 AM
To: Allen Bledsoe; Amy Cuellar; Ana Bonilla; Bob Arbuckle; Carolyn Maxie; Dolores Bravo; Grace Moser; Jerry Flores; Jerry Wallace; Jim Cleveland; Joe Alvarez; Kathy Cox; Mari Forcade; Mary Adame; Mary Doan; Oscar Gutierrez; Patricia Brown; Ramon Gamboa; Sandra Dillett; Shaun Barker; Stephanie Semien; Susan Lozano; Taylor O'BrienCc: Benito Narro; Brenda Rios; Debbie Knoll; Ellen Balthazar; Estella Gonzales; Gayle Armstrong; Janet Benson; Kemia Andrews; Lupe Rios; Mary Rodriguez; Shenaz Haney; Susan Leschber; Teri Creamer; Thelma Rey; Thomas Dickens
Subject: FW: Eligibility System Concern
RD's: I am sending this to you so you can understand some of the issues we are dealing with and as a reminder to absolutely ensure your staff do not instruct clients to call 2-1-1. There are a few instances where this is appropriate (as Taylor told you when he sent the other email), but your staff need to deal with problems in the local offices as much as possible. (So the clients fill out and mail NUMEROUS apps to the call centers, then have to turn around and complete one for the local office to handle? Whatever happened to the Federal requirement that ALL applications have to be handled, whether certified or denied? Oh yeah, I forgot, HHSC doesn't feel they need to comply with the Feds - which is why the State is going to lose so much money! Our tax dollars at work.....)
For the pilot offices, we have thoroughly discussed the interim procedures with the staff and our expectations are to handle clients/inquiries in the local office.
Kathy Cox Deputy Director of EligibilityServices State Operations 512/206-5656 Cell: 512/423-9451
-----Original Message-----
From: Wallace,Jerry
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 10:10 AM
To: Cox,Kathy; Forcade,Mari; 'Taylor'
Subject: FW: Eligibility System Concern
fyi
-----Original Message-----
From: LeBrun,Aurora
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 9:59 AM
To: Heiligenstein,Anne; Wallace,Jerry
Subject: RE: Eligibility System Concern
Anne and Jerry:
This is the result of our decision to go to an interim solution and not expand to the Hill Country. We did very little if any client notification for the pilot offices, but for the Hill Country rollout we used the Med ID as a means of notifying the clients of the expansion. Because of the lead time required to develop, print, and prepare stuffers for the Med ID card, this was done and could not be stopped when we changed directions. I agree this is a problem, but we need to handle it better. We provided notification to the workers of the stuffer and the impact/scope of the rollout, but we also provided information about the interim solution and its effect. We cannot undo the stuffer but we can handle client questions better - both at 2-1-1 and our offices.
The issue with the website is one we know and accepted to deal with - we cannot put up the website restricted to certain offices or counties so the result is that we get calls, applications, and other actions from all over the state through the website. We just need to handle them better.
Aurora
-----Original Message-----
From: Heiligenstein,Anne
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 9:12 AM
To: Wallace,Jerry; LeBrun,Aurora
Subject: Re: Eligibility System Concern
Thanks Jerry. Who generates the Medicaid letters....MCD?
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
-----Original Message-----
From: Wallace,Jerry
To: Heiligenstein,Anne; LeBrun,Aurora
Sent: Fri May 19 09:08:09 2006
Subject: RE: Eligibility System Concern
Anne and Aurora, there may be a few of our staff incorrectly telling clients to call 2-1-1. We will of course have the RDs remind staff. However, my staff tell me there are two other significant reasons clients are calling 2-1-1 which may account for a significant number of calls and there is nothing we or our field staff can do about it.
1) It is my understanding that Medicaid letters that go to ALL Medicaid clients apparently tell them they can call 2-1-1 for assistance. It apparently does not state anything about 2-1-1 only helping TIERS clients who currently or previously received benefits in Hays or Travis counties. We are attempting to get a copy of one of these letters.
2) The 2-1-1 web site tells the public to call 2-1-1 for assistance. It does not state that calls from our clients should be restricted to TIERS clients in Hays and Travis counties.
jw (Thank you, Jerry! Let's tell it like it is!)
-----Original Message-----
From: Heiligenstein,Anne
Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 12:24 PM
To: LeBrun,Aurora
Cc: Wallace,Jerry
Subject: RE: Eligibility System Concern
Complaints are not just coming from pilot offices. Clients in numerous sites across the state are being told to call 211. We've got a bigger problem than the 4 pilot sits. CAH heard the same complaint in San Antonio's public meeting yesterday. Only member of HS Committee that is from pilot area is Rep. Nashtait; other members are dispersed across the state....Dallas and Houston areas in particular.
-----Original Message-----
From: LeBrun,Aurora
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 3:15 PM
To: Heiligenstein,Anne
Subject: RE: Eligibility System Concern
We do - I am having Jerry resent our previous instructions to the RD's, supervisors, and field staff. I will also ask Kathy and Taylor to closely monitor the pilot offices - including face-to-face meetings with the supervisors. (How the hell did she get where she is when she can't even spell? Jerry resent???? How about resend! d and t aren't even typed with the same finger!)
Aurora
_____
From: Heiligenstein,Anne
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 5:34 AM
To: LeBrun,Aurora
Subject: FW: Eligibility System Concern
We do have a local office problem.
-----Original Message-----
From: Annie Landmann_HC [mailto:Annie.Landmann_HC@house.state.tx.us]
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 3:36 PM
To: anne.heiligenstein@hhsc.state.tx.us; Muth,Stephanie
Cc: Katherine Yoder
Subject: Eligibility System Concern
Commissioner Heiligenstein,
I would like to begin by expressing my appreciation for the eligibility oversight synopsis that I received by e-mail this afternoon. It is very encouraging, as always, to know that HHSC is reviewing better performance and system improvements and keeping us continually informed.
(If HHSC had listened to the employees to begin with, they wouldn't be having these problems now....)
With that said, I have been getting some discouraging feedback regarding the local offices. (How much discouraging feedback have they received regarding the call centers?) Many constituents have called my office in frustration, criticizing the application process for Medicaid and food stamps, whether it be their first time applying or when filing for an extension. The criticism is one and the same; the client walks into the local office to apply, or file an extension, or make an appointment, etc. and they are turned away, given a pamphlet, and told to call 2-1-1 . Not only is this becoming a redundant complaint in the committee office, but this was briefly discussed as a rising problem among my committee members' staff at a recent meeting as well. The call centers were made to serve clients as a convenient and uncomplicated option in the application process. We were told, however, that if the client chooses to continue to go to the local office and speak with state staff, they can, and should never be turned away. (So much for "convenient and uncomplicated".....and how many offices have enough workers to do the work now? Definitely not mine!)
It seems that staff in the local offices are under a false impression that they aren't in the business of assisting clients anymore. There is a common misconception among staff and we are hearing it through your frustrated clients. Whatever the resolution may be, it needs to be made quickly. Because of your efforts to fix the glitches in the new eligibility system, I know you are as truly concerned as we are when we hear that "clients" are being turned away when they should be helped. (We were told to refer clients to 211 - per HHSC instructions!)
Thank you for your attention in this matter and please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Annie Landmann
Chief Clerk
House Committee on Human Services
-----Original Message-----
From: Cox,Kathy [mailto:Kathy.Cox@hhsc.state.tx.us]
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 10:32 AM
To: Allen Bledsoe; Amy Cuellar; Ana Bonilla; Bob Arbuckle; Carolyn Maxie; Dolores Bravo; Grace Moser; Jerry Flores; Jerry Wallace; Jim Cleveland; Joe Alvarez; Kathy Cox; Mari Forcade; Mary Adame; Mary Doan; Oscar Gutierrez; Patricia Brown; Ramon Gamboa; Sandra Dillett; Shaun Barker; Stephanie Semien; Susan Lozano; Taylor O'BrienCc: Benito Narro; Brenda Rios; Debbie Knoll; Ellen Balthazar; Estella Gonzales; Gayle Armstrong; Janet Benson; Kemia Andrews; Lupe Rios; Mary Rodriguez; Shenaz Haney; Susan Leschber; Teri Creamer; Thelma Rey; Thomas Dickens
Subject: FW: Eligibility System Concern
RD's: I am sending this to you so you can understand some of the issues we are dealing with and as a reminder to absolutely ensure your staff do not instruct clients to call 2-1-1. There are a few instances where this is appropriate (as Taylor told you when he sent the other email), but your staff need to deal with problems in the local offices as much as possible. (So the clients fill out and mail NUMEROUS apps to the call centers, then have to turn around and complete one for the local office to handle? Whatever happened to the Federal requirement that ALL applications have to be handled, whether certified or denied? Oh yeah, I forgot, HHSC doesn't feel they need to comply with the Feds - which is why the State is going to lose so much money! Our tax dollars at work.....)
For the pilot offices, we have thoroughly discussed the interim procedures with the staff and our expectations are to handle clients/inquiries in the local office.
Kathy Cox Deputy Director of EligibilityServices State Operations 512/206-5656 Cell: 512/423-9451
-----Original Message-----
From: Wallace,Jerry
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 10:10 AM
To: Cox,Kathy; Forcade,Mari; 'Taylor'
Subject: FW: Eligibility System Concern
fyi
-----Original Message-----
From: LeBrun,Aurora
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 9:59 AM
To: Heiligenstein,Anne; Wallace,Jerry
Subject: RE: Eligibility System Concern
Anne and Jerry:
This is the result of our decision to go to an interim solution and not expand to the Hill Country. We did very little if any client notification for the pilot offices, but for the Hill Country rollout we used the Med ID as a means of notifying the clients of the expansion. Because of the lead time required to develop, print, and prepare stuffers for the Med ID card, this was done and could not be stopped when we changed directions. I agree this is a problem, but we need to handle it better. We provided notification to the workers of the stuffer and the impact/scope of the rollout, but we also provided information about the interim solution and its effect. We cannot undo the stuffer but we can handle client questions better - both at 2-1-1 and our offices.
The issue with the website is one we know and accepted to deal with - we cannot put up the website restricted to certain offices or counties so the result is that we get calls, applications, and other actions from all over the state through the website. We just need to handle them better.
Aurora
-----Original Message-----
From: Heiligenstein,Anne
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 9:12 AM
To: Wallace,Jerry; LeBrun,Aurora
Subject: Re: Eligibility System Concern
Thanks Jerry. Who generates the Medicaid letters....MCD?
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
-----Original Message-----
From: Wallace,Jerry
To: Heiligenstein,Anne; LeBrun,Aurora
Sent: Fri May 19 09:08:09 2006
Subject: RE: Eligibility System Concern
Anne and Aurora, there may be a few of our staff incorrectly telling clients to call 2-1-1. We will of course have the RDs remind staff. However, my staff tell me there are two other significant reasons clients are calling 2-1-1 which may account for a significant number of calls and there is nothing we or our field staff can do about it.
1) It is my understanding that Medicaid letters that go to ALL Medicaid clients apparently tell them they can call 2-1-1 for assistance. It apparently does not state anything about 2-1-1 only helping TIERS clients who currently or previously received benefits in Hays or Travis counties. We are attempting to get a copy of one of these letters.
2) The 2-1-1 web site tells the public to call 2-1-1 for assistance. It does not state that calls from our clients should be restricted to TIERS clients in Hays and Travis counties.
jw (Thank you, Jerry! Let's tell it like it is!)
-----Original Message-----
From: Heiligenstein,Anne
Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 12:24 PM
To: LeBrun,Aurora
Cc: Wallace,Jerry
Subject: RE: Eligibility System Concern
Complaints are not just coming from pilot offices. Clients in numerous sites across the state are being told to call 211. We've got a bigger problem than the 4 pilot sits. CAH heard the same complaint in San Antonio's public meeting yesterday. Only member of HS Committee that is from pilot area is Rep. Nashtait; other members are dispersed across the state....Dallas and Houston areas in particular.
-----Original Message-----
From: LeBrun,Aurora
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 3:15 PM
To: Heiligenstein,Anne
Subject: RE: Eligibility System Concern
We do - I am having Jerry resent our previous instructions to the RD's, supervisors, and field staff. I will also ask Kathy and Taylor to closely monitor the pilot offices - including face-to-face meetings with the supervisors. (How the hell did she get where she is when she can't even spell? Jerry resent???? How about resend! d and t aren't even typed with the same finger!)
Aurora
_____
From: Heiligenstein,Anne
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 5:34 AM
To: LeBrun,Aurora
Subject: FW: Eligibility System Concern
We do have a local office problem.
-----Original Message-----
From: Annie Landmann_HC [mailto:Annie.Landmann_HC@house.state.tx.us]
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 3:36 PM
To: anne.heiligenstein@hhsc.state.tx.us; Muth,Stephanie
Cc: Katherine Yoder
Subject: Eligibility System Concern
Commissioner Heiligenstein,
I would like to begin by expressing my appreciation for the eligibility oversight synopsis that I received by e-mail this afternoon. It is very encouraging, as always, to know that HHSC is reviewing better performance and system improvements and keeping us continually informed.
(If HHSC had listened to the employees to begin with, they wouldn't be having these problems now....)
With that said, I have been getting some discouraging feedback regarding the local offices. (How much discouraging feedback have they received regarding the call centers?) Many constituents have called my office in frustration, criticizing the application process for Medicaid and food stamps, whether it be their first time applying or when filing for an extension. The criticism is one and the same; the client walks into the local office to apply, or file an extension, or make an appointment, etc. and they are turned away, given a pamphlet, and told to call 2-1-1 . Not only is this becoming a redundant complaint in the committee office, but this was briefly discussed as a rising problem among my committee members' staff at a recent meeting as well. The call centers were made to serve clients as a convenient and uncomplicated option in the application process. We were told, however, that if the client chooses to continue to go to the local office and speak with state staff, they can, and should never be turned away. (So much for "convenient and uncomplicated".....and how many offices have enough workers to do the work now? Definitely not mine!)
It seems that staff in the local offices are under a false impression that they aren't in the business of assisting clients anymore. There is a common misconception among staff and we are hearing it through your frustrated clients. Whatever the resolution may be, it needs to be made quickly. Because of your efforts to fix the glitches in the new eligibility system, I know you are as truly concerned as we are when we hear that "clients" are being turned away when they should be helped. (We were told to refer clients to 211 - per HHSC instructions!)
Thank you for your attention in this matter and please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Annie Landmann
Chief Clerk
House Committee on Human Services
State may make contractor repay extra costs in system rollout
AUSTIN -- The Texas Health and Human Services Commission may force the contractor in charge of operating two major benefit programs to repay the state for unexpected costs it has faced in the rocky rollout of its new online eligibility system.
The Texas Access Alliance also could be penalized for failing to meet performance goals outlined in its contract, commission officials said Thursday.
Anne Heiligenstein, the deputy executive commissioner in charge of social services, told the Health and Human Services Commission Council that "it's very likely that we'll be taking appropriate action soon."
Citing technical and customer service concerns, the commission has twice delayed the rollout of a new computer system that lets people apply for benefits such as Medicaid, food stamps and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families over the phone, online or in person.
Using the new system, the state plans to replace 99 of its 310 eligibility offices with four call centers run by the TAA, a group of companies led by the technology consulting firm Accenture.
The system was unveiled in January in Travis and Hays counties and was supposed to be implemented in 20 more Hill Country counties in late April. All 254 Texas counties are supposed to be using the new system by the end of the year.
It isn't clear when the commission will move ahead with the next phase of the rollout.
TAA spokeswoman Jill Angelo said the group of companies is working with the state to resolve the issues that have been raised.
The commission's legal staff is collecting information on the state's increased costs and will make a recommendation to Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins, spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said. The list, for example, could include the cost of sending state staff to train call center employees.
"Even once a recommendation is made, this can be a long process," she said. "Our primary focus remains on implementing immediate corrective actions to improve the project's performance."
The contractor already has missed out on $50 million in case processing fees it would have been
able to charge the state if the rollout had not been delayed, Heiligenstein said.
The TAA also may be penalized for not meeting performance standards outlined in its contract, Goodman said. For example, the contractor could be fined for exceeding a set call abandonment rate or for having hold times that are too long.
Hold times averaged more than 14 minutes in March, and 36 percent of calls were abandoned, meaning customers hung up or were disconnected. After the contractor increased the number of operators, hold times averaged less than a minute in April and less than 4 percent of calls were abandoned.
But the numbers have crept back up because the state began retraining all call center employees after a review found operators could not handle some types of questions and could not thoroughly search agency records.
"That's not an acceptable result," Goodman said, adding the TAA may need to adjust the training schedule so enough operators are on duty to handle calls.
The TAA also is in charge of processing applications for Texas' low-cost insurance program for children. More than 30,000 children have left the Children's Health Insurance Program rolls since December.
Those staff members also are being retrained and policy changes are being made to give families more time to pay an enrollment fee and provide information that's missing on their forms.
Heiligenstein insisted that no amount of planning could have prevented every problem with the new eligibility system because the project is so big and complicated. By solving the issues that have cropped up in the pilot area, it will be easier to implement the system in the rest of the state, she said.
But council member Kathleen Angel sounded less convinced.
"One would hope you wouldn't learn quite so much from a pilot," she said.
The Texas Access Alliance also could be penalized for failing to meet performance goals outlined in its contract, commission officials said Thursday.
Anne Heiligenstein, the deputy executive commissioner in charge of social services, told the Health and Human Services Commission Council that "it's very likely that we'll be taking appropriate action soon."
Citing technical and customer service concerns, the commission has twice delayed the rollout of a new computer system that lets people apply for benefits such as Medicaid, food stamps and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families over the phone, online or in person.
Using the new system, the state plans to replace 99 of its 310 eligibility offices with four call centers run by the TAA, a group of companies led by the technology consulting firm Accenture.
The system was unveiled in January in Travis and Hays counties and was supposed to be implemented in 20 more Hill Country counties in late April. All 254 Texas counties are supposed to be using the new system by the end of the year.
It isn't clear when the commission will move ahead with the next phase of the rollout.
TAA spokeswoman Jill Angelo said the group of companies is working with the state to resolve the issues that have been raised.
The commission's legal staff is collecting information on the state's increased costs and will make a recommendation to Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins, spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said. The list, for example, could include the cost of sending state staff to train call center employees.
"Even once a recommendation is made, this can be a long process," she said. "Our primary focus remains on implementing immediate corrective actions to improve the project's performance."
The contractor already has missed out on $50 million in case processing fees it would have been
able to charge the state if the rollout had not been delayed, Heiligenstein said.
The TAA also may be penalized for not meeting performance standards outlined in its contract, Goodman said. For example, the contractor could be fined for exceeding a set call abandonment rate or for having hold times that are too long.
Hold times averaged more than 14 minutes in March, and 36 percent of calls were abandoned, meaning customers hung up or were disconnected. After the contractor increased the number of operators, hold times averaged less than a minute in April and less than 4 percent of calls were abandoned.
But the numbers have crept back up because the state began retraining all call center employees after a review found operators could not handle some types of questions and could not thoroughly search agency records.
"That's not an acceptable result," Goodman said, adding the TAA may need to adjust the training schedule so enough operators are on duty to handle calls.
The TAA also is in charge of processing applications for Texas' low-cost insurance program for children. More than 30,000 children have left the Children's Health Insurance Program rolls since December.
Those staff members also are being retrained and policy changes are being made to give families more time to pay an enrollment fee and provide information that's missing on their forms.
Heiligenstein insisted that no amount of planning could have prevented every problem with the new eligibility system because the project is so big and complicated. By solving the issues that have cropped up in the pilot area, it will be easier to implement the system in the rest of the state, she said.
But council member Kathleen Angel sounded less convinced.
"One would hope you wouldn't learn quite so much from a pilot," she said.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
MUST READ comments from hhscemployee
This POST is a MUST READ. hhscemployee responds to comments made my Annie Landmann, Chief Clerk of House Committee on Human Services, [(R)Suzanna Gratia-Hupp.]
Congressmen attack privatization plan
Web Posted: 05/25/2006 12:00 AM CDT
Guillermo X. Garcia
Express-News Staff Writer
Declaring it a failed experiment that is harming the neediest in the state, a group of Texas congressmen including Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, a San Antonio Democrat, urged state leaders Wednesday to immediately cease a plan to privatize the screening of welfare applications.
But Republican leaders, who control the Legislature and the top elected offices in the state, appeared unwilling to comply with the House Democrats' request.
Gov. Rick Perry's spokeswoman, Kathy Walt, did not directly address the congressional request, but noted that Perry has confidence in the privatizing effort and in Health and Human Services Commissioner Albert Hawkins, the point man for the outsourcing plan.
"The governor certainly believes that privatization is an appropriate cost-saving approach," Walt said.
Letting private companies carry out some state functions and providing those services faster, cheaper and more efficiently has been at the heart of the effort by the Health and Human Services Commission. Two years ago, the agency embarked on an ambitious plan to eventually replace face-to-face interviews between clients and state-paid caseworkers with forms that could be filled out via the Internet or with the assistance of private employees at four call centers around the state.
Texas signed an $899 million contract with Bermuda-based Accenture LLP last year to have the company develop an "integrated eligibility system" that would quickly and accurately determine the social services for which applicants qualify.
But the program has been beset with problems. The HHSC has twice postponed expanding the system outside of a small pilot project in Austin. The contractor's employee training program has been criticized, and a massive computer foul-up has resulted from an inability of various software programs to communicate with each other.
The program's critics say the foul-ups have led to people not receiving benefits they were entitled to. Others, they say, have been improperly denied benefits because of misinformation provided by poorly trained Accenture employees.
Acknowledging earlier this week that it has paid the contractor $91 million, Hawkins rejected an additional $50 million in payments for Accenture because the contractor has not been able to do the job.
The strongly worded letter was signed by four Texas Democratic congressmen and delivered late Wednesday to Perry, Hawkins and Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn.
Hawkins' spokeswoman said the commission planned to push ahead.
Strayhorn, a Republican running against Perry as an independent in November's gubernatorial election, applauded the congressmen "for getting involved in this Accenture mess."
"The governor implemented this plan in haste," Strayhorn said, terming the privatizing effort a "perfect story of wasted tax dollars, reduced access to services and profiteering at taxpayers' expense."
She has undertaken an audit and review of the Accenture contract and promised to provide answers to questions raised by state Democratic lawmakers who oppose privatization.
The state's privatizing effort "has been a total, complete failure, and the people who are losing are the needy and the taxpayers, and the people who are not (losing) are elected officials allowing this disaster to continue and the contractor," Gonzalez said in an interview.
Hawkins, who projected that the state would realize $646 million in savings over the five-year life of the contract, has twice been forced to postpone rolling out the effort statewide.
In addressing the problems, Hawkins also ordered that most of the work that Accenture was supposed to handle be instead performed by state workers, about 3,000 of whom were to have been replaced by the contractor's employees.
"People need to think in terms of the human suffering that is resulting from this truly failed effort," Gonzalez said.
ggarcia@express-news.net
From Blogger (some interesting links between Accenture and the current administration....)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/29/85414/3003
US Corporations & Elections Timeline:
2000 Halliburton & SAIC contract Accenture & Microsoft contract Paul S Cameron of Accenture becomes director at Seisint, Boca Raton Fla. Partnership with DBT Online Florida - Hank Asher DBT Inc. - ChoicePoint Inc. - Seisint Inc. [MATRIX & FACTS]Florida State - Katherine Harris - DBT & voter purge
2001 ACCENTURE gets $69m contract State of Florida [DBPR & STO] A $1bn deal between HALLIBURTON with ACCENTURE
2002 MATRIX $12m pilot project Florida State FDLE for ACCENTURE & SEISINT ENRON Lawsuits Settlements, liability for Accenture Ltd. Bermuda ends
2003 Cheney visit with Jeb Bush on SEISINT ACCENTURE buys election.com Pentagon SERVE project on e-Vote SEISINT's FACTSTM Report MATRIX Project - 18 months study FLORIDA IIR & FDLE $69m contract with SEISINT for FACTSTM -- Super computer and Data Base proprietary of SEISINT in Boca Raton, Fla.
2004 US Gov't DHS sign a $18bn contract with ACCENTURE for INS US-VISIT program ACCENTURE Ltd $2m contract in Florida to purge voter registration lists
http://www.cleanuptexaspolitics.com/node/view/479
State officials looking into how Accenture won huge Health and Human Services contract By Michelle M. MartinezState officials are looking into allegations that the company that last month was tentatively awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to run government-benefit call centers had received inside information.
Two legislators voiced their concern in a letter to the state's top health and human services official earlier this month, asking him to look into the possibility that an Accenture Ltd. employee obtained confidential, proprietary information about its competitor for the contract and that relationships involving current and former state employees could have helped its case.
Accenture and IBM Business Consulting Services were competing to build and manage computerized facilities that Texans could call to apply for or renew benefits such as Medicaid, food stamps and cash assistance.
On Wednesday, Albert Hawkins, executive commissioner of the state's health and human services agencies, said that he had asked the Office of Inspector General to investigate the evaluation process. He made the request Feb. 22, three days before his agency officially announced the tentative contract award to Accenture.
And the chairman of the House General Investigating and Ethics Committee, Rep. Kevin Bailey, D-Houston, said on Wednesday that his committee started looking into the matter late last week.
"I haven't gotten any firm information yet, but there have been allegations that they (Accenture) may have some friends in high places, and there's been some questions about whether they are competent to handle this kind of contract," Bailey said.
Peter Soh, an Accenture spokesman, said the accusationsoutlined in the letter by Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, and Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston,"are without merit."
"We have no reason to believe that Accenture violated any laws or procurement rules in the preparation of our eligibility proposal," he said.IBM officials, who have filed a protest with the commission, declined to comment, citing the ongoing process.
Jennifer Harris, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Commission, said the value of the contract hasn't been finalized. Sources have put the price tag at a minimum of $1 billion.
The commission announced on Feb. 25 that it had tentatively selected Accenture for the job. The Bermuda-based company has clients around the world and an office in Austin.
Before a final decision is made, though, state officials will weigh whether the company could run the new eligibility system more efficiently than the state could.
A week after the announcement, IBM filed its protest with the agency. Harris said state officials could not release specifics of the protest because IBM had stamped it proprietary and confidential. The agency likely will request an opinion from the attorney general's office, she said.
"I think with the complexity and the size of a contract this large, and the significant overhaul that is being done with the eligibility system, it's not surprising that there are protests being made through our normal protest process," Harris said.
The same day they received IBM's protest, state officials received the letter by Dukes and Turner. Dukes said she received her information anonymously.
"It is our understanding that Accenture bragged to another vendor that they obtained copies of (IBM's) proprietary technical architecture for the . . . proposal, and that Accenture's Tim Overend shared the architecture with a vendor, commenting that others were retaining the information on their computers," the letter reads.
Overend declined to comment when reached at his office Wednesday.
The letter also states that:
* Hazel Baylor, a contractor for Accenture, was the commission's deputy commissioner for planning, evaluation and project management in 2004 and had specific knowledge about the request for proposals.
* Gary Gumbert, the commission's chief information officer, was hired within the past year from Maximus, which has partnered with Accenture on the project proposal.
* Anne Sapp, a commission employee who had attended confidential vendor presentations as part of the agency's proposal evaluation team, is Baylor's housemate.
Attempts to contact Baylor at Accenture were unsuccessful. Gumbert deferred to the commission's spokeswoman, and Sapp did not return a telephone call.
"To say that we are concerned about the apparent improprieties in the . . . process would be a gross understatement," Dukes and Turner wrote. "I expect you to provide answers to these questions and settle this matter immediately."
Hawkins said members of the team that evaluated the proposals were required to submit conflict-of-interest disclosures and sign nondisclosure forms."I am confident that our recent request for proposals for call centers included a strong review and evaluation process that resulted in a level playing field for all vendors," he said in the statement.
Rather than copy more articles, I am attaching links:
http://www.burntorangereport.com/archives/2004/08/scandal_after_s.html
http://www.corporatepolicy.org/topics/benedictarnolds1.htm
http://www.voteamericavote.com/nutshell.html
I found more but don't have time to post right now.
Guillermo X. Garcia
Express-News Staff Writer
Declaring it a failed experiment that is harming the neediest in the state, a group of Texas congressmen including Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, a San Antonio Democrat, urged state leaders Wednesday to immediately cease a plan to privatize the screening of welfare applications.
But Republican leaders, who control the Legislature and the top elected offices in the state, appeared unwilling to comply with the House Democrats' request.
Gov. Rick Perry's spokeswoman, Kathy Walt, did not directly address the congressional request, but noted that Perry has confidence in the privatizing effort and in Health and Human Services Commissioner Albert Hawkins, the point man for the outsourcing plan.
"The governor certainly believes that privatization is an appropriate cost-saving approach," Walt said.
Letting private companies carry out some state functions and providing those services faster, cheaper and more efficiently has been at the heart of the effort by the Health and Human Services Commission. Two years ago, the agency embarked on an ambitious plan to eventually replace face-to-face interviews between clients and state-paid caseworkers with forms that could be filled out via the Internet or with the assistance of private employees at four call centers around the state.
Texas signed an $899 million contract with Bermuda-based Accenture LLP last year to have the company develop an "integrated eligibility system" that would quickly and accurately determine the social services for which applicants qualify.
But the program has been beset with problems. The HHSC has twice postponed expanding the system outside of a small pilot project in Austin. The contractor's employee training program has been criticized, and a massive computer foul-up has resulted from an inability of various software programs to communicate with each other.
The program's critics say the foul-ups have led to people not receiving benefits they were entitled to. Others, they say, have been improperly denied benefits because of misinformation provided by poorly trained Accenture employees.
Acknowledging earlier this week that it has paid the contractor $91 million, Hawkins rejected an additional $50 million in payments for Accenture because the contractor has not been able to do the job.
The strongly worded letter was signed by four Texas Democratic congressmen and delivered late Wednesday to Perry, Hawkins and Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn.
Hawkins' spokeswoman said the commission planned to push ahead.
Strayhorn, a Republican running against Perry as an independent in November's gubernatorial election, applauded the congressmen "for getting involved in this Accenture mess."
"The governor implemented this plan in haste," Strayhorn said, terming the privatizing effort a "perfect story of wasted tax dollars, reduced access to services and profiteering at taxpayers' expense."
She has undertaken an audit and review of the Accenture contract and promised to provide answers to questions raised by state Democratic lawmakers who oppose privatization.
The state's privatizing effort "has been a total, complete failure, and the people who are losing are the needy and the taxpayers, and the people who are not (losing) are elected officials allowing this disaster to continue and the contractor," Gonzalez said in an interview.
Hawkins, who projected that the state would realize $646 million in savings over the five-year life of the contract, has twice been forced to postpone rolling out the effort statewide.
In addressing the problems, Hawkins also ordered that most of the work that Accenture was supposed to handle be instead performed by state workers, about 3,000 of whom were to have been replaced by the contractor's employees.
"People need to think in terms of the human suffering that is resulting from this truly failed effort," Gonzalez said.
ggarcia@express-news.net
From Blogger (some interesting links between Accenture and the current administration....)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/29/85414/3003
US Corporations & Elections Timeline:
2000 Halliburton & SAIC contract Accenture & Microsoft contract Paul S Cameron of Accenture becomes director at Seisint, Boca Raton Fla. Partnership with DBT Online Florida - Hank Asher DBT Inc. - ChoicePoint Inc. - Seisint Inc. [MATRIX & FACTS]Florida State - Katherine Harris - DBT & voter purge
2001 ACCENTURE gets $69m contract State of Florida [DBPR & STO] A $1bn deal between HALLIBURTON with ACCENTURE
2002 MATRIX $12m pilot project Florida State FDLE for ACCENTURE & SEISINT ENRON Lawsuits Settlements, liability for Accenture Ltd. Bermuda ends
2003 Cheney visit with Jeb Bush on SEISINT ACCENTURE buys election.com Pentagon SERVE project on e-Vote SEISINT's FACTSTM Report MATRIX Project - 18 months study FLORIDA IIR & FDLE $69m contract with SEISINT for FACTSTM -- Super computer and Data Base proprietary of SEISINT in Boca Raton, Fla.
2004 US Gov't DHS sign a $18bn contract with ACCENTURE for INS US-VISIT program ACCENTURE Ltd $2m contract in Florida to purge voter registration lists
http://www.cleanuptexaspolitics.com/node/view/479
State officials looking into how Accenture won huge Health and Human Services contract By Michelle M. MartinezState officials are looking into allegations that the company that last month was tentatively awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to run government-benefit call centers had received inside information.
Two legislators voiced their concern in a letter to the state's top health and human services official earlier this month, asking him to look into the possibility that an Accenture Ltd. employee obtained confidential, proprietary information about its competitor for the contract and that relationships involving current and former state employees could have helped its case.
Accenture and IBM Business Consulting Services were competing to build and manage computerized facilities that Texans could call to apply for or renew benefits such as Medicaid, food stamps and cash assistance.
On Wednesday, Albert Hawkins, executive commissioner of the state's health and human services agencies, said that he had asked the Office of Inspector General to investigate the evaluation process. He made the request Feb. 22, three days before his agency officially announced the tentative contract award to Accenture.
And the chairman of the House General Investigating and Ethics Committee, Rep. Kevin Bailey, D-Houston, said on Wednesday that his committee started looking into the matter late last week.
"I haven't gotten any firm information yet, but there have been allegations that they (Accenture) may have some friends in high places, and there's been some questions about whether they are competent to handle this kind of contract," Bailey said.
Peter Soh, an Accenture spokesman, said the accusationsoutlined in the letter by Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, and Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston,"are without merit."
"We have no reason to believe that Accenture violated any laws or procurement rules in the preparation of our eligibility proposal," he said.IBM officials, who have filed a protest with the commission, declined to comment, citing the ongoing process.
Jennifer Harris, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Commission, said the value of the contract hasn't been finalized. Sources have put the price tag at a minimum of $1 billion.
The commission announced on Feb. 25 that it had tentatively selected Accenture for the job. The Bermuda-based company has clients around the world and an office in Austin.
Before a final decision is made, though, state officials will weigh whether the company could run the new eligibility system more efficiently than the state could.
A week after the announcement, IBM filed its protest with the agency. Harris said state officials could not release specifics of the protest because IBM had stamped it proprietary and confidential. The agency likely will request an opinion from the attorney general's office, she said.
"I think with the complexity and the size of a contract this large, and the significant overhaul that is being done with the eligibility system, it's not surprising that there are protests being made through our normal protest process," Harris said.
The same day they received IBM's protest, state officials received the letter by Dukes and Turner. Dukes said she received her information anonymously.
"It is our understanding that Accenture bragged to another vendor that they obtained copies of (IBM's) proprietary technical architecture for the . . . proposal, and that Accenture's Tim Overend shared the architecture with a vendor, commenting that others were retaining the information on their computers," the letter reads.
Overend declined to comment when reached at his office Wednesday.
The letter also states that:
* Hazel Baylor, a contractor for Accenture, was the commission's deputy commissioner for planning, evaluation and project management in 2004 and had specific knowledge about the request for proposals.
* Gary Gumbert, the commission's chief information officer, was hired within the past year from Maximus, which has partnered with Accenture on the project proposal.
* Anne Sapp, a commission employee who had attended confidential vendor presentations as part of the agency's proposal evaluation team, is Baylor's housemate.
Attempts to contact Baylor at Accenture were unsuccessful. Gumbert deferred to the commission's spokeswoman, and Sapp did not return a telephone call.
"To say that we are concerned about the apparent improprieties in the . . . process would be a gross understatement," Dukes and Turner wrote. "I expect you to provide answers to these questions and settle this matter immediately."
Hawkins said members of the team that evaluated the proposals were required to submit conflict-of-interest disclosures and sign nondisclosure forms."I am confident that our recent request for proposals for call centers included a strong review and evaluation process that resulted in a level playing field for all vendors," he said in the statement.
Rather than copy more articles, I am attaching links:
http://www.burntorangereport.com/archives/2004/08/scandal_after_s.html
http://www.corporatepolicy.org/topics/benedictarnolds1.htm
http://www.voteamericavote.com/nutshell.html
I found more but don't have time to post right now.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
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
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
Critics renew demand for call centers to be scrapped
State claims progress in fixing problems.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
While the state works to fix problems associated with a call-in system that allows Texans to apply for public assistance, critics continue to ask that the system be scrapped.
The Texas Access Alliance, which is anchored by consulting giant Accenture LLP, has been running the automated system for Travis and Hays counties since January. But the state delayed expanding the system statewide after critics said that it was hard to navigate and that workers didn't know the answers to questions.
Since then, Health and Human Services Commission officials have assigned state staff members to train the call center workers, changed management at two private call centers and taken other steps to improve the system, they said Monday. The moves have brought shorter wait times, officials said.
The $900 million system would close some state offices where people apply for public assistance and replace them with private call centers. It would expand the ways people could sign up for benefits, allowing them to do it by phone, mail, Internet or fax.
The system was projected to save the state $646 million over five years, though that number will probably shrink because of the delays and problems.
Officials acknowledge that they are months away from integrating an aging computer system, known as TIERS, to work in a call-in environment and that there have been problems developing an interim computer system.
"That ultimate fix is still months away," Health and Human Services spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said Monday.
The Texas Access Alliance has been paid $91 million since last year to develop and operate the eligibility system and oversee other components of the state's health and human services network, the San Antonio Express News reported Monday.
The group has also lost out on $50 million because of they won't be for paid certain things while the system is on hold.
The Health and Human Services Commission "should stop throwing good money after bad," Mike Gross, vice president of the Texas State Employees Union, said Monday in a news release. "The conservative and prudent thing to do would be to fire Accenture, then use the money
budgeted for the contract to improve services at the local level."
The system also was expected to cut 2,900 state jobs. Now, it is expected to eliminate 1,900 positions.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
While the state works to fix problems associated with a call-in system that allows Texans to apply for public assistance, critics continue to ask that the system be scrapped.
The Texas Access Alliance, which is anchored by consulting giant Accenture LLP, has been running the automated system for Travis and Hays counties since January. But the state delayed expanding the system statewide after critics said that it was hard to navigate and that workers didn't know the answers to questions.
Since then, Health and Human Services Commission officials have assigned state staff members to train the call center workers, changed management at two private call centers and taken other steps to improve the system, they said Monday. The moves have brought shorter wait times, officials said.
The $900 million system would close some state offices where people apply for public assistance and replace them with private call centers. It would expand the ways people could sign up for benefits, allowing them to do it by phone, mail, Internet or fax.
The system was projected to save the state $646 million over five years, though that number will probably shrink because of the delays and problems.
Officials acknowledge that they are months away from integrating an aging computer system, known as TIERS, to work in a call-in environment and that there have been problems developing an interim computer system.
"That ultimate fix is still months away," Health and Human Services spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said Monday.
The Texas Access Alliance has been paid $91 million since last year to develop and operate the eligibility system and oversee other components of the state's health and human services network, the San Antonio Express News reported Monday.
The group has also lost out on $50 million because of they won't be for paid certain things while the system is on hold.
The Health and Human Services Commission "should stop throwing good money after bad," Mike Gross, vice president of the Texas State Employees Union, said Monday in a news release. "The conservative and prudent thing to do would be to fire Accenture, then use the money
budgeted for the contract to improve services at the local level."
The system also was expected to cut 2,900 state jobs. Now, it is expected to eliminate 1,900 positions.
A storm of controversy over privatizing state services
Opinion
Ben Sargent
EDITORIAL
A storm of controversy over privatizing state servicesMonday, May 22, 2006
In theory, there's nothing wrong with the state hiring an outside contractor to handle applications and enrollment systems for several major state social service programs, including Medicaid and food stamps — if the contractor can operate effectively and save taxpayers' money. Such a change also should make it easier for thousands of Texans who qualify to use such service programs, even if several thousand state employees lose their jobs.
In practice, though, the state's five-year, $899 million contract with an overseas consulting firm, Accenture LLP, is off to a terrible start. So terrible, in fact, that the Health and Human Services commissioner, Albert Hawkins, has been forced to ask about 1,000 state employees who were to be laid off by the end of the year to please don't go — and offered them $1,800 bonuses to stay. The offer came a month after the commissioner postponed any statewide rollout of the eligibility program because of problems.
The problems included too many clients left on hold for way too long, too many employees making too many mistakes in determining eligibility and errors such as dropping 6,000 kids from the children's health insurance program — their parents had not been told of a new enrollment fee. The children were reinstated.
Some legislators are angry and are rightly demanding that state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn review the program, which was touted as a way to save the state $646 million over five years. Strayhorn, a Republican running for governor as an independent, welcomed the invitation to take shots at a program launched under the incumbent, Gov. Rick Perry.
She's already called the program "a perfect storm of wasted dollars, reduced access to services and profiteering at the expense of Texas taxpayers." Strayhorn's description might be correct, though saying so before the review, not after, could undermine the credibility of her staff's audit.
One issue to be determined, for example, is whether the program's problems are the result of profiteering, honest misjudgments or simple incompetence.
The program is one result of House Bill 2292, by former state Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth, R-Burleson, which in 2003 ordered a massive reorganization of the state's health and human services departments and agencies. The bill included a provision to examine possible cost savings if the state outsourced the process of applying for and maintaining the eligibility rolls of Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, food stamps and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. And it directed the state to consider possible savings from enabling applicants to use call centers and Internet connections.
Eventually, a contract was awarded to Texas Access Alliance, a consortium anchored by Accenture, an American consulting company officially headquartered in Bermuda. (Locating in Bermuda can help a company reduce the income tax it owes to the federal government, but apparently does nothing to lessen the company's willingness to make money off other American taxpayers.)
Strayhorn is right to take a good, hard look at this program. But she should not let her electoral ambitions interfere with her staff examining the contract performance with objectivity.
Ben Sargent
EDITORIAL
A storm of controversy over privatizing state servicesMonday, May 22, 2006
In theory, there's nothing wrong with the state hiring an outside contractor to handle applications and enrollment systems for several major state social service programs, including Medicaid and food stamps — if the contractor can operate effectively and save taxpayers' money. Such a change also should make it easier for thousands of Texans who qualify to use such service programs, even if several thousand state employees lose their jobs.
In practice, though, the state's five-year, $899 million contract with an overseas consulting firm, Accenture LLP, is off to a terrible start. So terrible, in fact, that the Health and Human Services commissioner, Albert Hawkins, has been forced to ask about 1,000 state employees who were to be laid off by the end of the year to please don't go — and offered them $1,800 bonuses to stay. The offer came a month after the commissioner postponed any statewide rollout of the eligibility program because of problems.
The problems included too many clients left on hold for way too long, too many employees making too many mistakes in determining eligibility and errors such as dropping 6,000 kids from the children's health insurance program — their parents had not been told of a new enrollment fee. The children were reinstated.
Some legislators are angry and are rightly demanding that state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn review the program, which was touted as a way to save the state $646 million over five years. Strayhorn, a Republican running for governor as an independent, welcomed the invitation to take shots at a program launched under the incumbent, Gov. Rick Perry.
She's already called the program "a perfect storm of wasted dollars, reduced access to services and profiteering at the expense of Texas taxpayers." Strayhorn's description might be correct, though saying so before the review, not after, could undermine the credibility of her staff's audit.
One issue to be determined, for example, is whether the program's problems are the result of profiteering, honest misjudgments or simple incompetence.
The program is one result of House Bill 2292, by former state Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth, R-Burleson, which in 2003 ordered a massive reorganization of the state's health and human services departments and agencies. The bill included a provision to examine possible cost savings if the state outsourced the process of applying for and maintaining the eligibility rolls of Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, food stamps and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. And it directed the state to consider possible savings from enabling applicants to use call centers and Internet connections.
Eventually, a contract was awarded to Texas Access Alliance, a consortium anchored by Accenture, an American consulting company officially headquartered in Bermuda. (Locating in Bermuda can help a company reduce the income tax it owes to the federal government, but apparently does nothing to lessen the company's willingness to make money off other American taxpayers.)
Strayhorn is right to take a good, hard look at this program. But she should not let her electoral ambitions interfere with her staff examining the contract performance with objectivity.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FROM TEXAS STATE EMPLOYEES UNION
May 22, 2006 CONTACT WILL ROGERS@ 512/448-4225 OR wrogers@cwa-tseu.org
Stop throwing good money after bad; fire Accenture,
rebuild health and human services at the local level
Austin- The Texas State Employees Union today called on the state Health and Human Services Commission to fire Accenture and to take immediate action rebuild the state's health and human service delivery network that has deteriorated so badly since HHSC awarded the $899 million call center contract to the Bermuda-based company.
The union made this call after the San Antonio Express News published an article by Guillermo Garcia today saying that HHSC has paid Accenture $91 million even though the agency admits that "the [call center] program is fraught with operational problems."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA052206.01B.privatize.d004bce.html
"HHSC should stop throwing good money after bad," said Mike Gross, TSEU vice-president. "The conservative and prudent thing to do would be to fire Accenture then use the money budgeted for the contract to improve services at the local level."
Because Accenture was performing so poorly, HHSC on May 10 returned most of the work that Accenture was doing back to state employees and announced that 1000 eligibility workers who had received layoff notices would keep their jobs.
Prior to May 10, thousands of cases were backlogged, some food stamp applications were taking three to four months to process, and frustrated clients were complaining to their legislators. During the four months that Accenture was processing CHIP and Medicaid applications, enrollment in these programs dropped substantially. In April CHIP enrollment dropped below 300,000 for the first time since 2001.
"HHSC made a bad decision when it chose to privatize services," said Gross. "It redeemed itself somewhat this month when it returned most of the work that Accenture was doing to state employees."
But HHSC's ability to deliver services is still hampered by its privatization decision. About 1000 employees who once worked in local eligibility offices have quit since July when HHSC awarded the call center contract to Accenture.
As a result many local offices are short staffed. One Houston office that used to have 40 employees is now down to 18 full-time staff. To make matters worse, state employees in local offices are working Accenture's backlog as well as their own caseload.
"HHSC should take the money that it planned to spend on the Accenture contract and re-invest it in its community-based offices," Gross said. "Community-based offices are where people can get face-to-face assistance from knowledgeable, professional state eligibility employees. You can't get the same kind of help from a faceless, call center operator."
To add your name to the list for these broadcasts (you must be a TSEU member):
send an email to tseubroadcast@cwa-tseu.org Put "subscribe me" in the subject line Put your full name and work location in the text of the email
Note: this address is only to subscribe to the TSEU broadcast network. For other issues call your TSEU office
To contact TSEU for more information or for materials:
Note: this address is only to subscribe to the TSEU broadcast network. For other issues call your TSEU office
To contact TSEU for more information or for materials:
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For information about contacting your state legislators, go to the TSEU website
For information about contacting your state legislators, go to the TSEU website
Yesterday, Congressman Joe Baca of California, and Congressmen Lloyd Doggett and Al Green of Texas offered an amendment on the floor of the House to Agriculture Appropriations bill. Their amendment essentially would ban Ag Approps from reimbursing a state agency if that agency has moved to increase the percentage of mail, telephone, and on-line applications to more than 20% of total applications unless the state agency can show that civil rights laws (including ADA) will be fully met. They knew it would be pulled down on a point of order, but they wanted to get it in the record.
The clip has almost the entire debate; Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Ranking Member of Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, also briefly spoke. She has previously worked with Mr. Doggett on Accenture issues and is supportive of the issue.
http://www.house.gov/doggett/speeches/052306FoodStampFullDebate.wmv
In addition, here is the text of Mr. Doggett's one-minute speech:
Congressman Lloyd Doggett
May 23, 2006
Baca-Doggett Amendment to FY 2007 Agricultural Appropriations
Mr. Chairman, a massive experiment on poor people in Texas has been a true disaster. Mr. Baca seeks to ensure that all Americans are protected from the same thing happening to them. Apparently there were some people who thought Accenture could do just as good a job of responding to Food Stamp inquiries as it did dodging its fair share of taxes by moving off to Bermuda. They were wrong.
Even our Republican Comptroller, as Mr. Baca has noted, says we have had a storm - a perfect storm - of wasted tax dollars.
Many members of our Texas delegation this very week have written to the Governor saying that we believe assisting families with nutrition and health care is not an expense, it is an investment in our community. We noted that face-to-face assistance by our public employees cannot be substituted with a machine, with turning poor people over to the internet or a phone call in a distant city. Moreover, we concluded that staffed locations should have well-trained eligibility employees. Those are the employees our Governor proposed to dismiss. We need to keep them there and this amendment would help accomplish that.
The clip has almost the entire debate; Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Ranking Member of Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, also briefly spoke. She has previously worked with Mr. Doggett on Accenture issues and is supportive of the issue.
http://www.house.gov/doggett/speeches/052306FoodStampFullDebate.wmv
In addition, here is the text of Mr. Doggett's one-minute speech:
Congressman Lloyd Doggett
May 23, 2006
Baca-Doggett Amendment to FY 2007 Agricultural Appropriations
Mr. Chairman, a massive experiment on poor people in Texas has been a true disaster. Mr. Baca seeks to ensure that all Americans are protected from the same thing happening to them. Apparently there were some people who thought Accenture could do just as good a job of responding to Food Stamp inquiries as it did dodging its fair share of taxes by moving off to Bermuda. They were wrong.
Even our Republican Comptroller, as Mr. Baca has noted, says we have had a storm - a perfect storm - of wasted tax dollars.
Many members of our Texas delegation this very week have written to the Governor saying that we believe assisting families with nutrition and health care is not an expense, it is an investment in our community. We noted that face-to-face assistance by our public employees cannot be substituted with a machine, with turning poor people over to the internet or a phone call in a distant city. Moreover, we concluded that staffed locations should have well-trained eligibility employees. Those are the employees our Governor proposed to dismiss. We need to keep them there and this amendment would help accomplish that.
BEEN OUT OF POCKET
Sorry I've been behind on the blog. I have taken a vacation -well deserved and very important. Apparently, things got a little mixed up while I was gone so please excuse the "construction in progress".
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