STATEHOUSE - Yesterday morning, Rep. Suzanne Crouch (R-Evansville) sat down with Indiana Family & Social Services Administration Secretary Ann Murphy, IBM representatives, Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) representatives, the United Way of Southwestern Indiana, local hospital management and local legislators to receive an update of the welfare modernization process in southwestern Indiana.
"There have been many problems with the new system," said Rep. Crouch. "We have had this new system for over a year and, in my judgment, IBM has not delivered. IBM needs to be held accountable if it does not honor its contract with the state."
Since the modernization was implemented into southwestern Indiana, Rep. Crouch has diligently worked to ensure the state and IBM was obeying the FSSA contract.
When Hoosiers in Rep. Crouch's district were denied benefits they qualified for and deserved, or did not receive care in time, she became discouraged with the new system and began to seek change and accountability.
"When two companies sign a contract with each other, they are bound to follow it," said Rep. Crouch. "What Indiana has done with the FSSA modernization isn't different than when the state contracts a private company to pave U.S. Route 41. The state made a deal with the contractor to pave the road and the people traveling the road will know if it has been paved correctly. If the road wasn't paved correctly, then the road has to be fixed.
"The modernization program is not different. Vulnerable populations are unable to navigate the current modernized system, and they need to be able to. IBM and ACS need to fix this big problem. "
Main points covered in the meeting were how the new system has lost its human element and the high error rate can place sanctions on the FSSA.
The federal government requires that a certain number of food stamp eligibility is processed by a specific time. Because the new system is not operating within these time limits, the error rates have been raised. If these error rates do not come down, the National Food Stamp Program (FSP) will sanction the state and Indiana will be fined to support FSSA's food stamp program.
"Many beneficiaries of the state's welfare programs complain that human connection is lost," said Rep. Crouch. "Many Hoosiers spend a long time on hold on the phone and rarely speak to the same person twice. People often find themselves repeating the same information several times because they rarely speak to the same person twice. This is very inefficient and wastes time, which many Hoosiers can't risk losing.
"IBM is being paid to perform and is not performing. This failure is affecting Hoosiers' lives and the state needs to know if IBM and ACS can fix this or not." |
