A $1 million contract to develop recommendations for replacing Arkansas' private option and revamping the rest of the Medicaid program cleared a legislative panel on Thursday over the opposition of a co-chairman of the legislative task force studying the issue.
In a voice vote, with no members dissenting, the Legislative Council's Executive Subcommittee deemed the Bureau of Legislative Research contract with The Stephen Group of Manchester, N.H., "reviewed," allowing the contract to go to the full council for approval today.
The Legislature's Health Reform Legislative Task Force voted 9-7 on May 7 to recommend that the bureau hire the firm after narrowing proposals from six firms to two finalists. The task force was created during this year's legislative session to recommend a replacement for the private option.
The other finalist, favored by both task force chairmen -- Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, and Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville -- was the Boston-based Public Consulting Group.
The Public Consulting Group listed its maximum cost for the project at $2,207,290, compared with $1,081,500 listed by The Stephen Group.
On Thursday, Hendren said he and Collins have concerns about whether The Stephen Group would be able to deliver what the task force needs.
He said the firm's proposal was concentrated primarily on delivering a report by Oct. 1, while the Public Consulting Group's proposal emphasized helping to implement the recommendations through the full contract period, ending Dec. 31, 2016.
He noted that The Stephen Group won support among task force members in part by promising to "scrub" the state's Medicaid eligibility files for clues about recipients who might be receiving benefits for which they are not eligible.
He asked the subcommittee to delay approval of the contract to allow task force members to "come to a proposal that satisfies a larger consensus" of the task force.
"Having half the task force starting off believing that they do not have the tools to satisfy the problem is going to make it a challenge," Hendren said.
He added that the effort to hire a consultant has been "one of the most frustrating and disgusting things I've seen down here in a long time."
"It's unfortunate that decisions that are so important get hijacked for silly reasons," Hendren said.
He said after the meeting that he was referring to the involvement of lobbyists and special-interest groups.
The council subcommittee's vote to review the contract came after it rejected a motion by its chairman, Sen. Bill Sample, R-Hot Springs, to delay the review for a week.
John Stephen, The Stephen Group's founder, told subcommittee members that the audit of the Medicaid rolls accounted for about 10 percent of the $1 million contract. The firm would be available to respond to requests from the task force after the report is delivered, he said.
Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, and Rep. David Meeks, R-Conway, both of whom voted for The Stephen Group, urged the subcommittee to review the contract.
The task force "was not designed to have Kumbaya moments," Chesterfield said.
She noted that the task force made its selection after reviewing six proposals and hearing presentations from four bidders.
Supporters of The Stephen Group included all four Democrats on the task force, but Chesterfield noted that The Stephen Group and the Public Consulting Group each won support from a mix of past supporters and opponents of the private option.
"I'm quite frankly disappointed that when a majority speaks, it's not respected," she said.
Metro on 05/15/2015