PROVIDENCE – A $27 million credit will be provided to the state to cover unexpected costs related to the rollout of the Unified Health Infrastructure Project, also known as UHIP, the governor’s office said Thursday.
The credit covers costs of temporary extra personnel at the R.I. Department of Human Services to deal with the backlog of pending applications, as well as contracted services costs in fiscal 2017 and through the end of the first quarter in fiscal 2018.
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“Rhode Island taxpayers deserve a well-functioning system that they paid for. I’ve spoken weekly with Deloitte Consulting’s CEO and am heartened that the firm is making a good faith effort to offset the state’s unanticipated expenses,” Gov. Gina M. Raimondo said in a statement. “Since February, we have reduced the number of pending nonmedical applications by half. The number of pending SNAP applications is down nearly 70 percent, and lobby wait times are the lowest they’ve been since UHIP launched. There is still a great deal of work to do, but today’s agreement is another positive sign that significant progress is being made.”
Acting DHS Director Eric J. Beane said progress has been made in recent weeks, but the credit from Deloitte will “allow us to move forward together and focus solely on fixing the critical outstanding issues.”
DHS released an assessment in February that identified significant issues with the UHIP system, concluding that it was not ready to go live.
Raimondo pledged to hold Deloitte accountable and is withholding payment to Deloitte until the system is stabilized. Deloitte has added 130 staff to its team in Rhode Island since February.
Beane said that Deloitte’s increased commitment has helped improve customer service in the past two months, along with significant new state resources and improved project-management practices.
The $27 million credit is not a final settlement, the release said. Rather, it is a voluntary credit from Deloitte and does not amount to an admission of liability or a waiver of any potential legal claims from either the state or Deloitte.
