The contract covers a variety of support services for Medicaid, CHIP, Food Stamps and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). The decision to end the contract early was a mutual agreement between the state and the contractor, said Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins.
"Our goal hasn't changed," Hawkins said. "We want to make it easier for Texans to apply for services by modernizing technology and letting citizens choose how they want to submit an application -- whether that's in person or by phone, mail, fax or Internet."
HHSC and the Texas Access Alliance are developing a timeline to transition the services covered under the contract. Hawkins said he expected the final transition to take place no later than Nov. 1, 2007.
During the transition, some of the work will continue to be performed by subcontractors while HHSC evaluates whether to hire state staff and develop systems for those tasks or use different contractors.
- State staff will take over management of CHIP. Maximus will continue to provide the system and employees to process applications until CHIP can be integrated into the state's new computer system. Once CHIP cases are being handled in the state computer system, state workers will be able to process CHIP applications.
- A team of HHSC staff will begin working with Accenture to transition maintenance of the state's computer system for eligibility services, the Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System (TIERS). The system is being modified to work better in a call center environment and to process CHIP cases.
- Maximus will continue to perform enrollment broker services to help Medicaid clients enroll in managed care plans. The company has been providing this service in Texas since 1997.
In 2003, the Texas Legislature -- faced with a budget shortfall and rising caseloads at state eligibility offices -- directed HHSC to determine if it would be cost effective to add call centers to the state's eligibility system to take some of the workload off local offices. HHSC evaluated the addition of state-run call centers and an outsourced arrangement. The agency concluded that both options would save the state money, but the outsourced model saved more.
HHSC entered into a contract with the Texas Access Alliance in June 2005 after a competitive procurement for call center operations, CHIP processing and eligibility determination, maintenance of the TIERS computer system and enrollment broker services. Most of the functions, including CHIP processing, have long been performed by the private sector. The critical new elements in the contract included establishing call centers and moving some work currently performed by state eligibility workers to the private sector. In December 2006, HHSC announced a plan to retain some functions originally envisioned to be performed by the private sector and reduce the terms of the contract.
As the state and contractor worked through the details of the December agreement, Hawkins said they came to a mutual decision to end the contract early.
Two phases of the transition planning are running on parallel tracks, Hawkins said. HHSC is working with the contractor to wind down the contract, and state staff are evaluating the best way to move forward with modernizing the eligibility system.
"In some cases, we will have interim arrangements until we have determined whether we should continue to provide those services through a contract or put state systems in place to take over those functions," Hawkins said. "As we determine our next steps, our goal will be to design a state system around consumer needs, keep complex decision-making in the hands of experienced state employees, and make the best use possible of taxpayer dollars."
According to an item in the Austin American Statesman's online version, projected savings from privatization never materialized.
