AP: Texas

05/10/2006

By LIZ AUSTIN  / Associated Press

At the request of three lawmakers, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn plans to investigate the contractor in charge of processing applications for Texas' low-cost insurance program for children and running the state's new benefits eligibility system.

The contractor, Texas Access Alliance, is a group of companies led by Accenture, a Bermuda-based technology consulting firm.

Strayhorn, who hopes to unseat Republican Gov. Rick Perry in November, said Wednesday the review will be a top priority for her staff.

"The Accenture contract to me appears to be the perfect storm of wasted tax dollars, reduced access to services ... and profiteering at the expense of taxpayers," she said.

Democratic Sen. Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso asked her Wednesday to conduct a comprehensive audit and performance review, saying it could "shed some light on the ongoing problems that are negatively affecting tens of thousands of Texans."

Later in the day, Democratic state Rep. Carlos Uresti of San Antonio and Republican state Rep. Carter Casteel of New Braunfels said in a letter to Strayhorn that they're "deeply concerned about the viability of the agency's plans" for its new eligibility system.

"Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are funding a problem-plagued plan that threatens the health and safety of our citizens," they said in the letter. "Our taxpayers and vulnerable citizens deserve to know how they will be affected by these questionable policy changes."

More than 30,000 children have left the Children's Health Insurance Program rolls since Dec. 1, and total enrollment has dipped below 300,000 for the first time since 2001, when the program was in its infancy.

The state granted a reprieve to another 28,000 children late last month after finding out families reapplying for CHIP were given too little time to respond to letters requesting enrollment fees or missing information.

Advocates blame the CHIP enrollment declines on the contractor, saying parents have complained that applications were lost, payments were not credited to the proper accounts and families have been improperly denied benefits.

"The stakes are high and these mistakes cannot continue," Shapleigh said.

Commission spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said the agency has briefed Strayhorn's staff on the project and will provide additional information about the contract.

"We remain committed to our core goals for this project — to finally provide Texans with a choice in how they apply for services, to modernize a system developed in the 70s and to generate administrative savings that can be redirected into services," she said in a statement.

Technical and operational problems have also dogged the other program the TAA is running, forcing the commission to twice delay 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 planned to replace 99 of its 310 eligibility offices and 2,900 of its 5,800 eligibility workers with four call centers run by the TAA.

The new eligibility 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.

But Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins has called for two 30-day delays, saying he wants to see better training for customer service representatives at call centers, a process to more quickly resolve complicated cases, better reporting tools to track cases and workload and improved data collection.

He also decided to keep 1,000 of the state workers and pay retention bonuses to help keep state staff in place during the transition.

TAA spokeswoman Jill Angelo said the group of companies is "increasing access to state services while eliminating duplication, fraud and abuse and is saving taxpayers money."

"We are happy to work with the state and the client on any review," she said.

Strayhorn has been sparring with state leaders over the limits to her authority to investigate state agencies. Attorney General Greg Abbott ruled last week that she is limited by state law to reviewing agency expenses, receipts and disbursements.

Strayhorn, who investigated and released a critical report on the performance of the Texas Residential Construction Commission earlier this year, said Shapleigh's request is completely different and clearly falls within the scope of her job.

Shapleigh asked the State Auditor's Office to investigate the CHIP enrollment declines but was told the agency didn't have the resources to initiate a review.

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On the Net:

Texas Health and Human Services Commission, http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us

Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, http://www.window.state.tx.us/