THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN, Texas -- Scores of confidential documents containing medical and financial information about people applying for state benefits wound up in a Seattle warehouse after clients used an incorrect fax number to send the paperwork, a newspaper reported Friday.
While it isn't clear why people used the wrong number, it took the Texas Health and Human Services Commission more than three weeks to seriously check into the complaints from the Take Care Store warehouse that they were receiving the confidential faxes, the Houston Chronicle reported.
"It was an error on our part that we did not complete our investigation of this information more quickly," agency spokeswoman Gail Randall said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Applications for Medicaid, food stamps, low-cost children's health insurance and welfare started showing up in Seattle three months ago, warehouse clerk Shaun Peck told the newspaper. They included everything from Social Security numbers and medical evaluations to income tax forms and pay stubs.
Other than the area code, the toll-free telephone number for the warehouse is almost identical to the toll-free fax number for the state contractor that processes such applications. The Texas Access Alliance's area code is 877, while the warehouse's is 800.
The warehouse telephone had a feature that automatically forwarded faxes from their phone line to their fax machine. After talking with the TAA, the warehouse disconnected that feature, contractor spokeswoman Jill Angelo said.
Peck didn't know how many applications they'd received, roughly guessing a dozen a week.
Workers shredded some, he said, and manually stopped the fax machine from printing others.
They even tried contacting the return fax numbers listed on the cover sheets, only to wind up talking to clerks at office and printing stores that couldn't figure out which customers had sent them.
The warehouse manager finally asked the woman who manages their Yellow Pages account to help figure out what was going on. She told Texas officials about the problem on May 9. And on May 25, she directly contacted the contractor in charge of processing the applications.
Yet it took the state and its contractor until Wednesday to begin seriously investigating and fixing the problem, the newspaper reported.
Randall said the state and TAA found one internal document that had the incorrect fax number, but the mistake was not included in any client correspondence. She said the clients may have misdialed since the numbers are so similar.
In a statement, Angelo said TAA has collected all the documents that warehouse workers didn't shred. She estimated the number of faxes sent to the wrong number amounted to less than 1 percent of the total number of faxes the agency has received since the beginning of 2006.
The mix-up is the latest problem to emerge from the privatization of the state's benefits eligibility system. The state plans to replace 99 of its 310 eligibility offices with four call centers run by the TAA.
In the months since the transition began, lawmakers have criticized the contractor's performance and clients have complained that their applications have been lost at the call centers.
Anne Dunkelberg, a senior policy analyst with the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities, told the AP the mix-up is one example of literally dozens of different kinds of technical problems clients are having with the contractor and the new eligibility system.
"It's a real shame ... that yet another technical problem is getting in the way of people getting the benefits that they qualify for," she said.
The TAA also recently took over processing applications and renewals for the state's low cost-insurance program for the working poor. Enrollment in the Children's Health Insurance
Program has fallen every month since December, with nearly 30,000 children leaving the rolls since then.
The commission announced Friday that total enrollment for June was 293,564, down from 298,776 in May.
Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins said 8,600 children who were enrolled in CHIP were eligible for Medicaid and were being moved to those rolls without any disruption in their coverage. He said 5,000 children were leaving CHIP because their family's income was too high.
Notice where that came from. Texas HHSC is famous! (how embarrassing...)
Friday, June 02, 2006
Needy Texans' applications faxed into a 'black hole'
Date: June 02, 2006
Misprinted form leads many to send info meant for the state to a puzzled company in Seattle
By Polly Ross Hughes
Houston Chronicle AUSTIN -
Three months ago, dozens of documents from Texas containing highly confidential financial and health information began arriving over a fax machine at a Seattle warehouse.
Shaun Peck, a clerk at the warehouse, searched through the mysterious documents - revealing Social Security numbers, medical evaluations, income tax forms and pay stubs - and wondered why they kept coming and where they should be going instead.
Back in Texas, frustrated elderly, disabled and poor people have long wondered why they sent applications for benefits to the state only to be told they never arrived.
Peck didn't know it, but he had discovered the much-rumored "black hole"eating up Texas applications for Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
The snafu is just the latest example of confusion during the state's transition this year from public to private screening of health and welfare applicants under an $899 million contract with outsourcing giant Accenture LLP.
At least 144 of the faxes, and possibly many more destroyed in a shredder or manually disconnected, were intended for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission or its private contractor in Midland but landed instead at the Seattle warehouse.
But, despite a call and two e-mails from Seattle to the state agency more than three weeks ago, misdirected faxes still arrived at the Seattle warehouse this week from applicants apparently clueless that a problem existed.
"I have not heard anything back from them. Nothing at all," said Cindy Sandford of Seattle, who alerted Texas officials May 9 about the wayward faxes at the request of the warehouse manager.
It wasn't until Wednesday - the day the Houston Chronicle raised questions - that the agency and its private contractor actively began checking into and fixing the mistake.
"It is unfortunate. It is an error on our part that it did not go further in that regard," HHSC spokeswoman Gail Randall said Thursday, referring to the agency's lack of greater follow-through early on. "I know they've been working on this since yesterday."
However, the mystery of the bad fax number is finally unraveling. It turns out a Midland call center run by Accenture mistakenly listed the wrong fax number on a document sent to a state agency handling benefits for the elderly and disabled.
Wrong number
Under its Texas Access Alliance letterhead, Accenture and its subcontractors listed the call center's Midland address, the state's 2-1-1 hot line for needy Texans and two fax numbers.
If information was faxed to the first one, 877-HHSC-TEX, no problem. But if it was sent to the second fax number, 800-447-2839, private documents landed in Peck's hands at the Take Care Store warehouse in Seattle.
"There was a black hole in Seattle, Washington," Peck told the Chronicle.
"People send us check stubs. They send us bills. We've gotten letters from people asking why they haven't been approved for food stamps yet. They were faxing in their personal information."
Exposure of clients' identities and personal information raises questions about state and federal privacy laws, said Celia Hagert, policy analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an Austin-based think tank advocating for low-income Texans.
Federal law and regulations generally require any state public assistance agency to safeguard personal information against unauthorized use or disclosure. This includes such things as names, addresses, amount of assistance, wages, medical data and Social Security numbers.
The wrong-number snafu comes amid widespread complaints about contract performance at Accenture's private call center in Midland, plunging enrollments for children's health insurance programs and complaints of lost applications for food stamps and other programs handled at the center.
"I think this is a screw-up. Everything that can go wrong with this transition (from state to private benefit screeners) has gone wrong," said Anne Dunkelberg, a health policy analyst at the Austin think tank. "This is something we didn't even dream of. Who knows what happened to these people's benefits?"
Peck said he was shocked when the faxes with Texas area codes began arriving and was perplexed about what to do. Attempts to call the return fax numbers often turned up large office and print centers that couldn't identify which customer had sent the fax, he said.
He isn't sure how many benefit applications and supporting documents have arrived at the store warehouse, roughly guessing a dozen a week or perhaps 144 in three months.
But, they are still arriving, including a 10-page fax seeking children's health insurance and food stamps late last week with copies of a Social Security card and bank statement, said Sandford, who manages the Take Care Store's Yellow Pages account and agreed to help the warehouse get to the bottom of the misdirected faxes.
Wrong number removed
Commission spokeswoman Randall said Thursday that the incorrect fax number has now been removed from the private contractor's memos to the Department of Aging and Disability Services and there is no sign it was ever printed on letters to clients. It is possible, however, that people have inadvertently misdialed since 877 and 800 are both toll-free prefixes, she added.
Sandford, frustrated when Texas faxes kept coming to Seattle, contacted Accenture's Texas Access Alliance directly on May 25 and sent the private contractors a copy of their cover sheet containing the erroneous fax number.
"Please do not ignore this fax," she began. "Please change your cover sheet immediately and notify everyone who has a copy of this incorrect information."
Accenture issued a statement to the Chronicle on Thursday. It said as soon as it became aware that faxes were going to a wrong number, it began a thorough investigation leading to actions that should stop faxes from landing in Seattle.
"We found out about it yesterday," said the company's spokeswoman, Jill Angelo of Public Strategies Inc. in Austin. The company also noted that 215,000 other faxes were sent to the correct number this year.
----------------NOW READ THIS------------------------------
PROOF THAT HHSC WAS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM BACK IN JANUARY, NOT "YESTERDAY"
-----Original Message-----
From: O'Brien,Taylor
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 8:35 AM
To: O'Brien,Taylor; Adame,Mary Margaret; Alvarez,Joe T; Arbuckle,Bob;
Barker,Shaun; Brown,Patricia Ann; Cox,Kathy; Doan,Mary; Forcade,Mari; Heflin,Robert; Knoll,Debbie; Maxie,Carolyn F; Moser,Grace L; Semien,Stephanie Ann; Wallace,Jerry; Cleveland,James N; Wade,Jenice L; Gamboa,Ramon
Cc: Wade,Charolette Ann; Barker,Shaun; Jumper,Kirsten; Forcade,Mari;
Wallace,Jerry; Andrews,Kemia Rae; Armstrong,Gayle; Balthazar,Ellen L; Benson,Janet Lea; Creamer,Teri L; Escarciga,Angie; Haney,Shenaz; Leschber,Susan; Osuna,Mary E; Rios,Brenda; Schneider,Debra; Speed,Jan; Narro,Benito M; Smith,Tammerriol J; Torres,Mando; Rubio,Lily; Vera,Cynthia I; Rodriguez,Martha; Jumper,Kirsten; Dingman,Kari; Barker,Shaun; Knoll,Debbie
Subject: Urgent - Additional Information / Important Reminder --
Address and Fax Number for Kids Meds Apps
Good morning all -
Please share this information immediately with all local office staff.
Fax one Kids Med Application at a time.
Important Information to Remember:
We must remember that these faxes are received on a "fax server" and are not printed out at the "receiving fax". Instead, each fax job received contains
all information from that specific transmission. Therefore, each fax
transmission must consist of one application only.
Thanks for your assistance
Taylor O'Brien
State Operations - Office of Eligibility Services Health and Human Services Commission
office: 512.206.5658 cell: 512.297.6211
pager: taylor1.obrien@my2way.com <mailto:taylor1.obrien@my2way.com>
-----Original Message-----
From: O'Brien,Taylor
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 10:39 AM
To: O'Brien,Taylor; Adame,Mary Margaret; Alvarez,Joe T;
Arbuckle,Bob; Barker,Shaun; Brown,Patricia Ann; Cox,Kathy; Doan,Mary;
Forcade,Mari; Heflin,Robert; Knoll,Debbie; Maxie,Carolyn F; Moser,Grace L;
Semien,Stephanie Ann; Wallace,Jerry
Cc: Wade,Charolette Ann; Barker,Shaun; Jumper,Kirsten;
Forcade,Mari; Wallace,Jerry; Andrews,Kemia Rae; Armstrong,Gayle;
Balthazar,Ellen L; Benson,Janet Lea; Creamer,Teri L; Escarciga,Angie;
Haney,Shenaz; Leschber,Susan; Osuna,Mary E; Rios,Brenda; White,Donald;
Schneider,Debra; Speed,Jan
Subject: Updated Information -- Address and Fax Number for
Kids Meds Apps
Importance: High
Good morning all - we have received clarification on the fax number
for Kids Meds Apps
FAX number: 1-877-542-5951
Good afternoon all -
Below is the address to send Kids Meds apps to if you choose
to mail instead of fax.
Misprinted form leads many to send info meant for the state to a puzzled company in Seattle
By Polly Ross Hughes
Houston Chronicle AUSTIN -
Three months ago, dozens of documents from Texas containing highly confidential financial and health information began arriving over a fax machine at a Seattle warehouse.
Shaun Peck, a clerk at the warehouse, searched through the mysterious documents - revealing Social Security numbers, medical evaluations, income tax forms and pay stubs - and wondered why they kept coming and where they should be going instead.
Back in Texas, frustrated elderly, disabled and poor people have long wondered why they sent applications for benefits to the state only to be told they never arrived.
Peck didn't know it, but he had discovered the much-rumored "black hole"eating up Texas applications for Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
The snafu is just the latest example of confusion during the state's transition this year from public to private screening of health and welfare applicants under an $899 million contract with outsourcing giant Accenture LLP.
At least 144 of the faxes, and possibly many more destroyed in a shredder or manually disconnected, were intended for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission or its private contractor in Midland but landed instead at the Seattle warehouse.
But, despite a call and two e-mails from Seattle to the state agency more than three weeks ago, misdirected faxes still arrived at the Seattle warehouse this week from applicants apparently clueless that a problem existed.
"I have not heard anything back from them. Nothing at all," said Cindy Sandford of Seattle, who alerted Texas officials May 9 about the wayward faxes at the request of the warehouse manager.
It wasn't until Wednesday - the day the Houston Chronicle raised questions - that the agency and its private contractor actively began checking into and fixing the mistake.
"It is unfortunate. It is an error on our part that it did not go further in that regard," HHSC spokeswoman Gail Randall said Thursday, referring to the agency's lack of greater follow-through early on. "I know they've been working on this since yesterday."
However, the mystery of the bad fax number is finally unraveling. It turns out a Midland call center run by Accenture mistakenly listed the wrong fax number on a document sent to a state agency handling benefits for the elderly and disabled.
Wrong number
Under its Texas Access Alliance letterhead, Accenture and its subcontractors listed the call center's Midland address, the state's 2-1-1 hot line for needy Texans and two fax numbers.
If information was faxed to the first one, 877-HHSC-TEX, no problem. But if it was sent to the second fax number, 800-447-2839, private documents landed in Peck's hands at the Take Care Store warehouse in Seattle.
"There was a black hole in Seattle, Washington," Peck told the Chronicle.
"People send us check stubs. They send us bills. We've gotten letters from people asking why they haven't been approved for food stamps yet. They were faxing in their personal information."
Exposure of clients' identities and personal information raises questions about state and federal privacy laws, said Celia Hagert, policy analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an Austin-based think tank advocating for low-income Texans.
Federal law and regulations generally require any state public assistance agency to safeguard personal information against unauthorized use or disclosure. This includes such things as names, addresses, amount of assistance, wages, medical data and Social Security numbers.
The wrong-number snafu comes amid widespread complaints about contract performance at Accenture's private call center in Midland, plunging enrollments for children's health insurance programs and complaints of lost applications for food stamps and other programs handled at the center.
"I think this is a screw-up. Everything that can go wrong with this transition (from state to private benefit screeners) has gone wrong," said Anne Dunkelberg, a health policy analyst at the Austin think tank. "This is something we didn't even dream of. Who knows what happened to these people's benefits?"
Peck said he was shocked when the faxes with Texas area codes began arriving and was perplexed about what to do. Attempts to call the return fax numbers often turned up large office and print centers that couldn't identify which customer had sent the fax, he said.
He isn't sure how many benefit applications and supporting documents have arrived at the store warehouse, roughly guessing a dozen a week or perhaps 144 in three months.
But, they are still arriving, including a 10-page fax seeking children's health insurance and food stamps late last week with copies of a Social Security card and bank statement, said Sandford, who manages the Take Care Store's Yellow Pages account and agreed to help the warehouse get to the bottom of the misdirected faxes.
Wrong number removed
Commission spokeswoman Randall said Thursday that the incorrect fax number has now been removed from the private contractor's memos to the Department of Aging and Disability Services and there is no sign it was ever printed on letters to clients. It is possible, however, that people have inadvertently misdialed since 877 and 800 are both toll-free prefixes, she added.
Sandford, frustrated when Texas faxes kept coming to Seattle, contacted Accenture's Texas Access Alliance directly on May 25 and sent the private contractors a copy of their cover sheet containing the erroneous fax number.
"Please do not ignore this fax," she began. "Please change your cover sheet immediately and notify everyone who has a copy of this incorrect information."
Accenture issued a statement to the Chronicle on Thursday. It said as soon as it became aware that faxes were going to a wrong number, it began a thorough investigation leading to actions that should stop faxes from landing in Seattle.
"We found out about it yesterday," said the company's spokeswoman, Jill Angelo of Public Strategies Inc. in Austin. The company also noted that 215,000 other faxes were sent to the correct number this year.
----------------NOW READ THIS------------------------------
PROOF THAT HHSC WAS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM BACK IN JANUARY, NOT "YESTERDAY"
-----Original Message-----
From: O'Brien,Taylor
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 8:35 AM
To: O'Brien,Taylor; Adame,Mary Margaret; Alvarez,Joe T; Arbuckle,Bob;
Barker,Shaun; Brown,Patricia Ann; Cox,Kathy; Doan,Mary; Forcade,Mari; Heflin,Robert; Knoll,Debbie; Maxie,Carolyn F; Moser,Grace L; Semien,Stephanie Ann; Wallace,Jerry; Cleveland,James N; Wade,Jenice L; Gamboa,Ramon
Cc: Wade,Charolette Ann; Barker,Shaun; Jumper,Kirsten; Forcade,Mari;
Wallace,Jerry; Andrews,Kemia Rae; Armstrong,Gayle; Balthazar,Ellen L; Benson,Janet Lea; Creamer,Teri L; Escarciga,Angie; Haney,Shenaz; Leschber,Susan; Osuna,Mary E; Rios,Brenda; Schneider,Debra; Speed,Jan; Narro,Benito M; Smith,Tammerriol J; Torres,Mando; Rubio,Lily; Vera,Cynthia I; Rodriguez,Martha; Jumper,Kirsten; Dingman,Kari; Barker,Shaun; Knoll,Debbie
Subject: Urgent - Additional Information / Important Reminder --
Address and Fax Number for Kids Meds Apps
Good morning all -
Please share this information immediately with all local office staff.
Fax one Kids Med Application at a time.
Important Information to Remember:
We must remember that these faxes are received on a "fax server" and are not printed out at the "receiving fax". Instead, each fax job received contains
all information from that specific transmission. Therefore, each fax
transmission must consist of one application only.
Thanks for your assistance
Taylor O'Brien
State Operations - Office of Eligibility Services Health and Human Services Commission
office: 512.206.5658 cell: 512.297.6211
pager: taylor1.obrien@my2way.com <mailto:taylor1.obrien@my2way.com>
-----Original Message-----
From: O'Brien,Taylor
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 10:39 AM
To: O'Brien,Taylor; Adame,Mary Margaret; Alvarez,Joe T;
Arbuckle,Bob; Barker,Shaun; Brown,Patricia Ann; Cox,Kathy; Doan,Mary;
Forcade,Mari; Heflin,Robert; Knoll,Debbie; Maxie,Carolyn F; Moser,Grace L;
Semien,Stephanie Ann; Wallace,Jerry
Cc: Wade,Charolette Ann; Barker,Shaun; Jumper,Kirsten;
Forcade,Mari; Wallace,Jerry; Andrews,Kemia Rae; Armstrong,Gayle;
Balthazar,Ellen L; Benson,Janet Lea; Creamer,Teri L; Escarciga,Angie;
Haney,Shenaz; Leschber,Susan; Osuna,Mary E; Rios,Brenda; White,Donald;
Schneider,Debra; Speed,Jan
Subject: Updated Information -- Address and Fax Number for
Kids Meds Apps
Importance: High
Good morning all - we have received clarification on the fax number
for Kids Meds Apps
FAX number: 1-877-542-5951
Good afternoon all -
Below is the address to send Kids Meds apps to if you choose
to mail instead of fax.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
State privatization effort questioned
By Tim Evans
tim.evans@indystar.com
A massive effort to privatize claims processing for a million needy Hoosiers is drawing fire from critics who say the process is moving too fast and the two contenders have spotty track records.
About the companies
Two consortiums are seeking the $1 billion contract to manage applications and eligibility review for state and federal assistance programs operated by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.
• Accenture LLP, a Chicago-based division of Accenture LTD, a Bermuda corporation, is heading one of the bidder groups. (Haven't we already heard of them?)
Accenture has 129,000 employees involved in management consulting, technology services and outsourcing worldwide, including about 100 in Indiana. (No, actually, they are based in Bermuda. Little to No taxes. Voila!)
• IBM and Affiliate Computer Services are heading the other bidder group. (I still wonder why IBM dropped the suit last time? Do you think there will be another?)
Information-technology company IBM has 341,750 employees worldwide and a services segment that offers business performance transformation services, business transformation outsourcing, engineering and technology services.
Dallas-based ACS is a provider of diversified business process outsourcing and information technology outsourcing solutions to commercial and government clients with 52,000 employees worldwide.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
Consortiums headed by IBM and Accenture are seeking the $1 billion contract that could become a contentious issue for the Daniels administration.
The Family and Social Services Administration is expected to announce a private partner within a month. Both contenders have run into problems with similar deals in other states:
Legislators in Texas last month threatened to fire Accenture or ban it from other state contracts following a barrage of complaints.
A partner in the IBM group, Affiliated Computer Services, lost part of a Georgia contract two years ago because of problems processing claims. Texas-based ACS also is the former employer of FSSA Secretary E. Mitchell Roob Jr.
While FSSA officials initially hoped to select a contractor by mid-May, spokesman Dennis Rosebrough said Tuesday that officials need more time.
"It's a big contract -- very complicated -- and we want to make sure we've got it right before we move forward," he said.
Rosebrough said Roob will not be involved in the selection process because of his former ties to ACS.
Privatizing the agency's applications and eligibility review process is intended to improve service to needy Hoosiers, while reducing errors and the expense to taxpayers. (Nope, sorry guys, but it won't....it'll actually cost you millions in Federal funds)
"No one can really argue with the stated reasons for these changes," said Lisa Travis, advocacy and education coordinator for the Indiana Institute for Working Families.
"But we are not aware of any other state doing so much, so fast, and there is no cost-benefits analysis that shows there will be a savings to taxpayers or improvements in services." (Yep. This was mentioned about TX too! And "we" didn't listen.....)
Travis and others contend the process to award the 10-year contract has limited legislative oversight and few opportunities for client, advocate or service provider input.
A similar effort to privatize welfare functions has run into problems in Texas.
State legislators upset about Accenture's handling of a pilot program to manage applications for food stamps, Medicaid and Temporary Aid to Needy Families in two counties have delayed taking the project statewide.
"Unfortunately, there was little testing of the new system before the rollout," State Rep. Dawnna Dukes said in an e-mail response to questions about Accenture's performance in Texas.
Dukes, a Democrat from Austin, said many of the responsibilities initially handed over to Accenture in January have been returned to state employees.
Staffing shortages and technical problems also have caused a backlog of thousands of applications, which delayed approval of benefits for some and improperly terminated benefits for others.
Jim McAvoy, spokesman for the Bermuda-based Accenture LTD, said pilot programs are designed to work out bugs in new systems and blamed some of the Texas problems on new eligibility rules instituted this year. (What are they going to do next year when the policies change again? My God! How stupid do they think we are!?! )
"You set up these systems. You test and you establish a basic benchmark," he explained. "You understand better and you re-engineer the system to meet demand and to solve issues."
An IBM spokesman said he could not comment on the proposal Tuesday.
Rosebrough said Roob and other state leaders knew there was a possibility Roob's former employer would be a bidder "because there are only a limited number of companies who provide these services."
Roob has delegated responsibility for the project to James Robertson IV, director of the agency's division of family resources, said Rosebrough.
Once a firm is selected to do the work in Indiana, Rosebrough said, state officials will negotiate final details of the contract, including the cost. The $1 billion estimate is based on the current cost of the work done by state employees.
None of the about 2,600 state employees involved in the work being privatized will lose their jobs, Rosebrough said, but some might be absorbed by the private contractor with pay and benefits at least equal to what they receive from the state.
Call Star reporter Tim Evans at (317) 444-6204.
Opinion: Privatization Glitches Draw Notice From Afar
Amy Smith
Austin Chronicle
6/1/2006
You know things aren't up to par on the privatization front when newspapers in distant states point to Texas as an example of what not to do, in recounting how a private contractor botched its job with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
The May 27 edition of the Fort Wayne, Ind., Journal Gazette pointed out that Texas lawmakers are putting the heat on the project's lead contractor, Bermuda-based Accenture, to clean up its $899 million act (although the newspaper didn't mention that Gov. Rick Perry insists that everything will work out fine in the end).
Indiana officials are considering awarding a similar contract to Accenture, but the Fort Wayne newspaper and other dailies are holding up Texas, as well as other states where Accenture has left its mark, as an example of how ambitious experiments like this one at HHSC can end up smelling like hydrogen sulfide gas.
Rotten eggs, in other words. "If Accenture's misadventure in Texas didn't give [Indiana] officials pause, it should have," the paper warned, adding, "Agency officials should try to find out what went wrong in Texas - and what if anything went right."
BLOGGER NOTES:
This was pulled right from HHSCs own Newslink.
It's kind of funny but I remember reading similar articles published in Mississippi saying the same things about Texas that people are now saying about Indiana!
What is it with this country that we continue to let our government rule without sense?
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
From HHSC Employees' blog, it appears that a "war" has started between HHSC front line workers and Accenture staff.
We at HHSC do not have a problem with the employees hired at the call centers!
We do have a problem with the call centers!
We do have a problem with TIERS (which is just another version of TIES...remember, folks?)
We do have a problem with "upper admin" at both HHSC and Accenture!
We do have a problem with all the lies and rhetoric that HHSC has been and is still releasing to both staff and the media!
We do have a problem with how Accenture got the contract!
We do have a problem with HHSC and the State of Texas for allowing ANYONE to make a profit from our children, our poor, our elderly and our disabled!
Employees hired at the call centers are just looking for a job, hopefully one that doesn't still make them eligible for the same benefits they are trying to issue. I just hope that the interviewers are being up front with job applicants, but somehow, I don't believe they are. If they were, the call centers would not have the turnover problems that they are having. On the other hand, getting a new job and having a computer system that doesn't work would tend to drive me nuts....but again, if the interviewers were up front.....
State workers want the same. After dedicating their lives to this agency, the least HHSC can do is show some loyalty to their staff (Yeah, I've read the emails about how much we're appreciated and so forth, but that's just the same rhetoric. Don't tell me what a good job I'm doing and then give me a pink slip the next week!).
We have managed to do our jobs well with the so-called "outdated" SAVERR system. The system may have been designed in the 70s but it's still working. And whatever happened to IT saying they could have converted SAVERR to a WINDOWS based environment for less than 100K?
Ssshhhh.....Don't tell anyone because I have a friend at this great company called Accenture who really needs to make more money and the best way is to get another State contract!
Like they don't have enough already? Like they've done a really good job in the other states? What about the other countries? What about the US Marines?
We all know that this is NOT going to work. The only difference is the head honchos will not admit it. They have too much invested now and don't want to admit they were wrong. If they did, they might have to admit that their intentions were NOT to serve the good people of Texas, but to line their own pockets and those of their friends.
And who cares about fraud? Who cares that most of the fraudulent cases are caught by the worker in the face-to-face interview? On site, in the same town. There really is alot to be said about a one on one relationship with your worker. How would you like to go to school and have a different teacher every day? Or go to a different doctor each time? (Why are PCPs required?)
How about not having your own personal insurance agent that you can go to and discuss your issues? I could go on but you get the point.
Call centers are effective in certain industries, but NOT in social services.
Accenture has spent so much money lobbying our legislators, have been doing so for years. Maybe it's time we all stood up and said NO to big business! Oh, wait - we can't. Bush is still in the Whitehouse. And those of us who have been around a long time know that Bush tried this when he was Governor.....
We at HHSC do not have a problem with the employees hired at the call centers!
We do have a problem with the call centers!
We do have a problem with TIERS (which is just another version of TIES...remember, folks?)
We do have a problem with "upper admin" at both HHSC and Accenture!
We do have a problem with all the lies and rhetoric that HHSC has been and is still releasing to both staff and the media!
We do have a problem with how Accenture got the contract!
We do have a problem with HHSC and the State of Texas for allowing ANYONE to make a profit from our children, our poor, our elderly and our disabled!
Employees hired at the call centers are just looking for a job, hopefully one that doesn't still make them eligible for the same benefits they are trying to issue. I just hope that the interviewers are being up front with job applicants, but somehow, I don't believe they are. If they were, the call centers would not have the turnover problems that they are having. On the other hand, getting a new job and having a computer system that doesn't work would tend to drive me nuts....but again, if the interviewers were up front.....
State workers want the same. After dedicating their lives to this agency, the least HHSC can do is show some loyalty to their staff (Yeah, I've read the emails about how much we're appreciated and so forth, but that's just the same rhetoric. Don't tell me what a good job I'm doing and then give me a pink slip the next week!).
We have managed to do our jobs well with the so-called "outdated" SAVERR system. The system may have been designed in the 70s but it's still working. And whatever happened to IT saying they could have converted SAVERR to a WINDOWS based environment for less than 100K?
Ssshhhh.....Don't tell anyone because I have a friend at this great company called Accenture who really needs to make more money and the best way is to get another State contract!
Like they don't have enough already? Like they've done a really good job in the other states? What about the other countries? What about the US Marines?
We all know that this is NOT going to work. The only difference is the head honchos will not admit it. They have too much invested now and don't want to admit they were wrong. If they did, they might have to admit that their intentions were NOT to serve the good people of Texas, but to line their own pockets and those of their friends.
And who cares about fraud? Who cares that most of the fraudulent cases are caught by the worker in the face-to-face interview? On site, in the same town. There really is alot to be said about a one on one relationship with your worker. How would you like to go to school and have a different teacher every day? Or go to a different doctor each time? (Why are PCPs required?)
How about not having your own personal insurance agent that you can go to and discuss your issues? I could go on but you get the point.
Call centers are effective in certain industries, but NOT in social services.
Accenture has spent so much money lobbying our legislators, have been doing so for years. Maybe it's time we all stood up and said NO to big business! Oh, wait - we can't. Bush is still in the Whitehouse. And those of us who have been around a long time know that Bush tried this when he was Governor.....
Monday, May 29, 2006
Privatized services stumbling
Defenders say savings, efficiency in social aid programs will take time
01:04 AM CDT on Sunday, May 28, 2006
By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Texas' health and welfare agencies are undertaking the most sweeping and rapid privatization of social services in the country, but the experiments are plagued with problems.
Tens of thousands of aid recipients can't get through to privately run call centers. Thousands more poor families are complaining that their children were wrongly denied health insurance. At state hospitals and schools for the mentally impaired, head nurses must slog through new and burdensome online payroll duties.
Conservative policymakers who championed privatization predicted it would save money and make services more efficient. But so far, the state has had to dial back its savings estimates and rescind planned layoffs of hundreds of eligibility workers.
Liberal policy analysts and advocates for the poor say Texas rushed into outsourcing without a good plan or enough testing. Some lawmakers in both parties vow to re-evaluate the push, especially before the state begins next year to privatize a highly sensitive task – caring for abused and neglected children.
Others, such as conservative commentators and Albert Hawkins, Gov. Rick Perry's point man on social services, defend privatization. They insist change will be worth the initial pain as private firms help the state trim administrative fat, verify recipients are eligible and better serve the needy.
And, they note, privatization is here to stay, because Republican legislative leaders won't go back to – or pay for – old ways of checking eligibility and running programs.
"It makes so much sense that the only reason that someone would be opposed to this is that they're beholden to state employees," said former Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth, R-Burleson. She pushed through the 2003 law that strongly encouraged using privately run call centers and other cost-cutting techniques.
Ms. Wohlgemuth said she's "absolutely astounded" that critics "would like to take this system back to the dark ages," when employed adults had to take off work to go to field offices and wait in lines to apply for benefits for their children.
Celia Hagert, an expert on food stamps who monitors the call-center push for the progressive Center for Public Policy Priorities, said the state has actually had to spend more to determine eligibility. The state cancelled 1,000 layoffs this month and has sent managers and workers to various cities to fix glitches, she said.
"We've deployed an untested, badly performing system that's causing people to lose benefits," Ms. Hagert said, noting that 108,000 fewer children are enrolled in health insurance programs than were six months ago. State agencies "are asking the Legislature for more money to keep the administrative functions afloat. The exact opposite of what they promised is what's happening now."
Mr. Hawkins, the state health and human services commissioner, has acknowledged the problems. But he and conservative supporters say they are temporary, the result of the transition to privatization. Other analysts are concerned the problems will only grow as more state functions are outsourced.
What's happened
As the debate intensifies, the state faces a host of challenges:
•About 42 percent of the nearly 60,000 people who called a children's health insurance call center in Midland from May 15 to May 21 hung up before they could reach an operator. The contractor, a group led by Bermuda-based Accenture Ltd., blamed the delays on an unexpected surge in calls.
•Turnover has soared among the $8-an-hour operators hired by an Accenture subcontractor. In one week this month, 15 operators quit at the Midland call center, and 23 left an adjoining operation that handles applicants for welfare, food stamps and adult Medicaid coverage. That's a workforce turnover of about 10 percent in seven days.
"Midland is a very competitive employment market right now," with a joblessness rate of 3 percent, said Accenture spokesman Jim McAvoy. He vowed that the company will intensify its recruiting efforts.
•Average wait times for callers trying to apply for welfare, food stamps and adult Medicaid coverage exceeded 20 minutes on six days in March. Waits dropped to under a minute or two in April. But on two days this month, they leapt to about 13 minutes.
Mr. McAvoy attributed the surge to a state demand that each operator receive at least 40 hours of extra training. "The good news is we are already seeing results" from that training, he said.
•The state said this month that a call center run by Accenture in San Antonio can't perform its main job – gathering all information needed so a state worker can quickly decide on applications by adults in a tryout area, Travis and Hays counties. Computer systems don't talk to one another and don't allow the state to track how fast cases are resolved, said Stephanie Goodman, spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Commission.
•Repeated delays in rolling out the system beyond metropolitan Austin forced the state to offer $1,800 retention bonuses to 1,000 state workers whose jobs were scheduled to be eliminated this year; 900 others will still get pink slips. More than 2,000 have quit and have not been replaced since October 2004. (Other than to insure children, Dallas-area residents probably won't start using the call centers until next year.)
•Low-level and midlevel managers, especially those who oversee dozens of employees at state mental hospitals and schools for the retarded, have complained that they can't care for patients and students because a separate outsourcing has saddled them with time-consuming payroll and time card processing tasks.
The state shifted duties of nearly 500 human resources workers in the five agencies that Mr. Hawkins oversees to Convergys Corp. of Cincinnati. It has promised "enhancements" that will ease criticism by Mr. Hawkins and the affected managers.
"What Texas is attempting to do is a radical transformation of service delivery," said Stacy Dean, a former federal budget official who monitors privatization efforts for the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.
She said the state ignored warnings that fast changes would be a technological and human gamble.
Florida spent fours years testing a similar though mostly state-run system, and Pennsylvania, Washington and Utah bit off only small chunks of the job for starters, she said. But Texas officials tried to award an $899 million contract and convert the whole state in 14 months.
"They thought they could pull it off without testing the waters," Ms. Dean said. "It's that sort of Lone Star bravado – 'we can do it when nobody else can, and experience from other states isn't relevant.' "
But Jason Turner of the conservative Heritage Foundation describes Texas as an innovative defender of taxpayers.
"Looking beyond the government service-delivery monopoly for improvements ... has a long and well-established pedigree," said Mr. Turner, who favored private competition as a designer of former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson's welfare overhauls and as former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's welfare commissioner.
The early bumps in Texas are no surprise, Mr. Turner said.
"When major systems undergo a changeover from public to private, start-up failures of various kinds always occur," he said.
Political effects
Still, early problems have put Republicans – in both Austin and Washington – on the defensive.
Last week, Texas' eligibility call centers were debated briefly on the floor of the U.S. House. Democrats offered a provision to shut down Texas' plan but relented.
Twenty Republicans from Texas circulated a letter urging colleagues to allow the experiment to go forward. They said it will offer convenient, after-hours service to the state's poor and feeble.
Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, an independent candidate for governor, has accepted the invitation of one moderate Republican and two liberal Democrats in the Legislature to scrutinize the call center contract. She has accused Mr. Perry of implementing the plan "in haste" and has said the contract creates conditions ideal for "profiteering."
In the Legislature, even Republicans have criticized the call centers.
"We should have moved much more quickly to act on the problems," said Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, who heads the Senate committee overseeing health and welfare programs. She called the call center problems "inexcusable" and said, "Either get the problems fixed or I assume it would be a violation of the contract, and yank it back."
Mr. Hawkins hasn't financially penalized Accenture's group over the problems, though he says he's considering it.
And he concedes that savings have been minimal so far. But he said changes were inevitable because of recent budget cuts.
"Some people, when they're looking at something new, tend to compare against some ideal or something that was perfect," Mr. Hawkins said. "Well, the old system wasn't perfect, either."
Rep. Vilma Luna, D-Corpus Christi, a key House budget writer, says the state shouldn't have put itself at the mercy of private contractors. But she predicts that it won't pull back.
"I don't know where we will end up," Ms. Luna said. "My sense is there will be some effort to make the call center model work. But it may have to be modified."
E-mail rtgarrett@dallasnews.com
Gauging gains and setbacks
Here's a look at the progress of the state's efforts to outsource social services:
WHAT: Call centers and new eligibility system
COST: $899 million for a five-year contract
PRECEDENT: Some. About 60 percent of the money is for new privatization. The rest reflects computer and children's health insurance call-center duties formerly performed by other vendors.
WHO: Texas Access Alliance, led by Accenture Ltd.'s U.S. subsidiary
WHEN: Awarded in June 2005
PROGRESS: Uneven. Delays in the rollout have cost the alliance $50 million in variable fees, state officials say. The vendor says it expects to make that up with higher program enrollments than the state projects. The state is weighing penalties for poor performance.
WHAT: Processing of payroll, benefits, job applications and performance reviews for the state's five health and human services agencies and their 46,000 employees
COST: $85 million for a five-year contract
PRECEDENT: None
WHO: Convergys Corp. of Cincinnati
WHEN: Awarded in October 2004
PROGRESS: Uneven. Though 95 percent of employees have gone online to perform self-service transactions, many middle managers who now must track subordinates' time have complained that the system is unwieldy and that they can't get help and weren't trained properly.
Convergys says fixes will be complete by July. Delays last fall cost it $535,000 in fees.
WHAT: State care of abused and neglected children removed from their homes
COST: Unknown
PRECEDENT: While Child Protective Services previously had outsourced most foster home recruitment and adoption placement, it plans to eliminate by 2011 the jobs of about 1,000 conservatorship caseworkers. Management of children's therapies and work with families seeking reunification will be handed off to private agencies.
WHO: There probably will be multiple contractors.
WHEN: The first contract, to oversee the San Antonio region, is expected to be issued by Sept. 30, 2007.
PROGRESS: The state sought bids on May 1.
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research
01:04 AM CDT on Sunday, May 28, 2006
By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Texas' health and welfare agencies are undertaking the most sweeping and rapid privatization of social services in the country, but the experiments are plagued with problems.
Tens of thousands of aid recipients can't get through to privately run call centers. Thousands more poor families are complaining that their children were wrongly denied health insurance. At state hospitals and schools for the mentally impaired, head nurses must slog through new and burdensome online payroll duties.
Conservative policymakers who championed privatization predicted it would save money and make services more efficient. But so far, the state has had to dial back its savings estimates and rescind planned layoffs of hundreds of eligibility workers.
Liberal policy analysts and advocates for the poor say Texas rushed into outsourcing without a good plan or enough testing. Some lawmakers in both parties vow to re-evaluate the push, especially before the state begins next year to privatize a highly sensitive task – caring for abused and neglected children.
Others, such as conservative commentators and Albert Hawkins, Gov. Rick Perry's point man on social services, defend privatization. They insist change will be worth the initial pain as private firms help the state trim administrative fat, verify recipients are eligible and better serve the needy.
And, they note, privatization is here to stay, because Republican legislative leaders won't go back to – or pay for – old ways of checking eligibility and running programs.
"It makes so much sense that the only reason that someone would be opposed to this is that they're beholden to state employees," said former Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth, R-Burleson. She pushed through the 2003 law that strongly encouraged using privately run call centers and other cost-cutting techniques.
Ms. Wohlgemuth said she's "absolutely astounded" that critics "would like to take this system back to the dark ages," when employed adults had to take off work to go to field offices and wait in lines to apply for benefits for their children.
Celia Hagert, an expert on food stamps who monitors the call-center push for the progressive Center for Public Policy Priorities, said the state has actually had to spend more to determine eligibility. The state cancelled 1,000 layoffs this month and has sent managers and workers to various cities to fix glitches, she said.
"We've deployed an untested, badly performing system that's causing people to lose benefits," Ms. Hagert said, noting that 108,000 fewer children are enrolled in health insurance programs than were six months ago. State agencies "are asking the Legislature for more money to keep the administrative functions afloat. The exact opposite of what they promised is what's happening now."
Mr. Hawkins, the state health and human services commissioner, has acknowledged the problems. But he and conservative supporters say they are temporary, the result of the transition to privatization. Other analysts are concerned the problems will only grow as more state functions are outsourced.
What's happened
As the debate intensifies, the state faces a host of challenges:
•About 42 percent of the nearly 60,000 people who called a children's health insurance call center in Midland from May 15 to May 21 hung up before they could reach an operator. The contractor, a group led by Bermuda-based Accenture Ltd., blamed the delays on an unexpected surge in calls.
•Turnover has soared among the $8-an-hour operators hired by an Accenture subcontractor. In one week this month, 15 operators quit at the Midland call center, and 23 left an adjoining operation that handles applicants for welfare, food stamps and adult Medicaid coverage. That's a workforce turnover of about 10 percent in seven days.
"Midland is a very competitive employment market right now," with a joblessness rate of 3 percent, said Accenture spokesman Jim McAvoy. He vowed that the company will intensify its recruiting efforts.
•Average wait times for callers trying to apply for welfare, food stamps and adult Medicaid coverage exceeded 20 minutes on six days in March. Waits dropped to under a minute or two in April. But on two days this month, they leapt to about 13 minutes.
Mr. McAvoy attributed the surge to a state demand that each operator receive at least 40 hours of extra training. "The good news is we are already seeing results" from that training, he said.
•The state said this month that a call center run by Accenture in San Antonio can't perform its main job – gathering all information needed so a state worker can quickly decide on applications by adults in a tryout area, Travis and Hays counties. Computer systems don't talk to one another and don't allow the state to track how fast cases are resolved, said Stephanie Goodman, spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Commission.
•Repeated delays in rolling out the system beyond metropolitan Austin forced the state to offer $1,800 retention bonuses to 1,000 state workers whose jobs were scheduled to be eliminated this year; 900 others will still get pink slips. More than 2,000 have quit and have not been replaced since October 2004. (Other than to insure children, Dallas-area residents probably won't start using the call centers until next year.)
•Low-level and midlevel managers, especially those who oversee dozens of employees at state mental hospitals and schools for the retarded, have complained that they can't care for patients and students because a separate outsourcing has saddled them with time-consuming payroll and time card processing tasks.
The state shifted duties of nearly 500 human resources workers in the five agencies that Mr. Hawkins oversees to Convergys Corp. of Cincinnati. It has promised "enhancements" that will ease criticism by Mr. Hawkins and the affected managers.
"What Texas is attempting to do is a radical transformation of service delivery," said Stacy Dean, a former federal budget official who monitors privatization efforts for the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.
She said the state ignored warnings that fast changes would be a technological and human gamble.
Florida spent fours years testing a similar though mostly state-run system, and Pennsylvania, Washington and Utah bit off only small chunks of the job for starters, she said. But Texas officials tried to award an $899 million contract and convert the whole state in 14 months.
"They thought they could pull it off without testing the waters," Ms. Dean said. "It's that sort of Lone Star bravado – 'we can do it when nobody else can, and experience from other states isn't relevant.' "
But Jason Turner of the conservative Heritage Foundation describes Texas as an innovative defender of taxpayers.
"Looking beyond the government service-delivery monopoly for improvements ... has a long and well-established pedigree," said Mr. Turner, who favored private competition as a designer of former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson's welfare overhauls and as former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's welfare commissioner.
The early bumps in Texas are no surprise, Mr. Turner said.
"When major systems undergo a changeover from public to private, start-up failures of various kinds always occur," he said.
Political effects
Still, early problems have put Republicans – in both Austin and Washington – on the defensive.
Last week, Texas' eligibility call centers were debated briefly on the floor of the U.S. House. Democrats offered a provision to shut down Texas' plan but relented.
Twenty Republicans from Texas circulated a letter urging colleagues to allow the experiment to go forward. They said it will offer convenient, after-hours service to the state's poor and feeble.
Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, an independent candidate for governor, has accepted the invitation of one moderate Republican and two liberal Democrats in the Legislature to scrutinize the call center contract. She has accused Mr. Perry of implementing the plan "in haste" and has said the contract creates conditions ideal for "profiteering."
In the Legislature, even Republicans have criticized the call centers.
"We should have moved much more quickly to act on the problems," said Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, who heads the Senate committee overseeing health and welfare programs. She called the call center problems "inexcusable" and said, "Either get the problems fixed or I assume it would be a violation of the contract, and yank it back."
Mr. Hawkins hasn't financially penalized Accenture's group over the problems, though he says he's considering it.
And he concedes that savings have been minimal so far. But he said changes were inevitable because of recent budget cuts.
"Some people, when they're looking at something new, tend to compare against some ideal or something that was perfect," Mr. Hawkins said. "Well, the old system wasn't perfect, either."
Rep. Vilma Luna, D-Corpus Christi, a key House budget writer, says the state shouldn't have put itself at the mercy of private contractors. But she predicts that it won't pull back.
"I don't know where we will end up," Ms. Luna said. "My sense is there will be some effort to make the call center model work. But it may have to be modified."
E-mail rtgarrett@dallasnews.com
Gauging gains and setbacks
Here's a look at the progress of the state's efforts to outsource social services:
WHAT: Call centers and new eligibility system
COST: $899 million for a five-year contract
PRECEDENT: Some. About 60 percent of the money is for new privatization. The rest reflects computer and children's health insurance call-center duties formerly performed by other vendors.
WHO: Texas Access Alliance, led by Accenture Ltd.'s U.S. subsidiary
WHEN: Awarded in June 2005
PROGRESS: Uneven. Delays in the rollout have cost the alliance $50 million in variable fees, state officials say. The vendor says it expects to make that up with higher program enrollments than the state projects. The state is weighing penalties for poor performance.
WHAT: Processing of payroll, benefits, job applications and performance reviews for the state's five health and human services agencies and their 46,000 employees
COST: $85 million for a five-year contract
PRECEDENT: None
WHO: Convergys Corp. of Cincinnati
WHEN: Awarded in October 2004
PROGRESS: Uneven. Though 95 percent of employees have gone online to perform self-service transactions, many middle managers who now must track subordinates' time have complained that the system is unwieldy and that they can't get help and weren't trained properly.
Convergys says fixes will be complete by July. Delays last fall cost it $535,000 in fees.
WHAT: State care of abused and neglected children removed from their homes
COST: Unknown
PRECEDENT: While Child Protective Services previously had outsourced most foster home recruitment and adoption placement, it plans to eliminate by 2011 the jobs of about 1,000 conservatorship caseworkers. Management of children's therapies and work with families seeking reunification will be handed off to private agencies.
WHO: There probably will be multiple contractors.
WHEN: The first contract, to oversee the San Antonio region, is expected to be issued by Sept. 30, 2007.
PROGRESS: The state sought bids on May 1.
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Outsourcing Common Sense
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.
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.
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:
Austin: (512) 448-4225
Houston: (713) 661-9030
San Antonio: (210) 354-2900
Dallas: (214) 631-7863
Harlingen: (956) 428-0251
Lubbock: (806) 741-0044
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".
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Links to other articles, old and new
Check out these articles found on the web, also!
New and old articles.....you might learn something you didn't already know.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Privitization/Texas_Inc.html
Texas, Inc.
Taking privatization to extremes, a new law ends the public sector as we knew it
by Kim Phillips-Fein
The Nation magazine, January 5, 2004
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-callcenters_10tex.ART.State.Edition1.1872d64c.html
Quick fix to call center woes urged
08:17 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 10, 2006
By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News
http://rhetoricrhythm.blogspot.com/2006/05/privatization-debacle.html
Rhetoric & Rhythm
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Privatization debacle
Houston Chronicle: Privatization Role Reveals Ethics Gap in State Law
Submitted by Fred on Tue, 01/04/2005 - 2:03pm.
Human services deputy stood to gain from changes
By R.G. RATCLIFFE
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/20_21/outsourcing/27267-1.html
10/24/05;
Vol. 20 No. 21
Texas auditor blasts HR project
By ETHAN BUTTERFIELD
New and old articles.....you might learn something you didn't already know.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Privitization/Texas_Inc.html
Texas, Inc.
Taking privatization to extremes, a new law ends the public sector as we knew it
by Kim Phillips-Fein
The Nation magazine, January 5, 2004
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-callcenters_10tex.ART.State.Edition1.1872d64c.html
Quick fix to call center woes urged
08:17 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 10, 2006
By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News
http://rhetoricrhythm.blogspot.com/2006/05/privatization-debacle.html
Rhetoric & Rhythm
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Privatization debacle
Houston Chronicle: Privatization Role Reveals Ethics Gap in State Law
Submitted by Fred on Tue, 01/04/2005 - 2:03pm.
Human services deputy stood to gain from changes
By R.G. RATCLIFFE
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/20_21/outsourcing/27267-1.html
10/24/05;
Vol. 20 No. 21
Texas auditor blasts HR project
By ETHAN BUTTERFIELD
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