June 16, 2009
HOUSE BILL No. 1003(ss)
_____
DIGEST OF HB 1003
(Updated June 16, 2009 6:11 pm - DI 84)
Citations Affected: Noncode.
Synopsis: Audit of public assistance modernization project. Requires
the legislative council to contract with an entity to conduct a
performance audit of the public assistance modernization project.
Requires the office of the secretary of family and social services and
contractors to cooperate with the entity conducting the performance
audit. Requires a final audit report to be given to the legislative council
before October 19, 2009. Appropriates $300,000 for the performance
audit.
Effective: Upon passage.
June 11, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Ways and Means.
June 16, 2009, reported _ Do Pass.
June 16, 2009
Special Session 116th General Assembly (2009)(ss)
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HOUSE BILL No. 1003(ss)
A BILL FOR AN ACT concerning human services and to make an
appropriation.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
SOURCE: ; (09)HB1003.1.1. -->
SECTION 1. [EFFECTIVE UPON PASSAGE]
(a) The definitions
in this subsection apply throughout this SECTION:
(1) "Modernization project" refers to a public-private
partnership undertaken by the state, acting on behalf of the
office of the secretary of family and social services, and
International Business Machines Corporation or one (1) or
more private contractors to:
(A) receive and process applications;
(B) gather and verify appropriate related data; and
(C) manage through document imaging the documentation
required by the office of the secretary of family and social
services or the federal government;
to perform eligibility determinations for public assistance.
(2) "Performance audit" refers to an independent assessment
of the modernization project that is performed under a
contract entered into by the chairman and the vice chairman
of the legislative council and conducted under this SECTION.
(3) "Public assistance" refers to assistance available under
any of the following programs administered by the state:
(A) The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
program (SNAP).
(B) The federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
program (TANF).
(C) The federal child care and development fund (CCDF)
program.
(D) The Medicaid program.
(b) The chairman and the vice chairman of the legislative
council, after consulting with the minority leader of the house of
representatives and the minority leader of the senate, shall jointly
enter into a contract with a qualified entity to conduct a
performance audit of the modernization project in compliance with
this SECTION.
(c) The contract for the performance audit shall be awarded in
the manner provided in this subsection. The legislative services
agency, on behalf of the legislative council, shall solicit proposals
through a request for proposals for a performance audit. The
legislative services agency shall give public notice of the requests
for proposals under IC 5-3-1. The contract shall be awarded to the
responsible offeror whose written proposal is determined by the
chairman and vice chairman of the legislative council, after
consultation with the minority leader of the house of
representatives and the minority leader of the senate, to be the
most advantageous, taking into consideration the price and other
evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals.
(d) The purpose of the performance audit is to provide
information to improve public accountability and facilitate
decision making by the legislative and executive branches to
oversee or initiate corrective action for the modernization project
as necessary or appropriate.
(e) The contract must provide that the performance audit
include the following:
(1) Be conducted according to generally accepted
governmental auditing standards.
(2) Include appropriate government service efforts, include
information concerning accomplishments, and provide an
accounting of the costs and expenditures associated with the
modernization project, including the costs and expenditures
on staffing, equipment, facilities, and technology.
(3) Determine the following:
(A) Whether the optimum amount of resources, including
staff, equipment, facilities, and technology, are being
allocated by the state and the private contractors to ensure
the eligibility determinations and redeterminations for
public assistance are made in a timely manner.
(B) The extent to which the modernization project is
achieving improvements in the delivery of public assistance
that were contemplated by the state when the state entered
into the modernization project.
(C) Whether the state and private contractors are in
compliance with public assistance laws, rules, and
regulations.
(D) Whether the state and the contractor are in compliance
with the contract governing the modernization project.
(E) The adequacy of the management control system for
measuring, reporting, and monitoring the modernization
project's economy, efficiency, and effectiveness.
(F) Whether the reporting measures of the state and the
contractors concerning the modernization project's
economy, efficiency, and effectiveness are valid and
verifiable.
(G) The timeliness in the processing of applications once
proper documentation is received.
(H) The timeliness in medical review team determinations.
(I) The timeliness for appeals.
(4) Review the eligibility intake process for document
management issues, including the following:
(A) Unattached documents.
(B) The number of documents received by facsimile.
(C) The number of documents received by mail.
(D) The number of documents incorrectly classified.
(E) The number of documents not indexed or incorrectly
attached to cases.
(F) The number of complaints from clients or
representatives of clients concerning lost documents and
the number of those complaints that are resolved.
(G) The timeliness of the tasks sent by the contractor to the
state for further action, as specified through contracted
performance standards.
(H) Call wait times and abandonment rates.
(5) Direct client assistance at county offices, including the
following:
(A) The number of clients helped directly in completing
eligibility application forms.
(B) The wait times at county offices.
(C) The amount of time a client is given as notice before a
scheduled applicant appointment.
(D) The amount of time an applicant waits for a scheduled
appointment.
Referring an individual to a computer or a telephone does not
constitute direct client assistance.
(6) The dollar value for uncompensated services provided by
Voluntary Community Networks (V-CANs) and other
individuals who have provided uncompensated assistance to
applicants and enrollees in navigating the modernization
project to receive public assistance.
(7) A review of the process for conducting call center
interviews, including the following:
(A) The return rate for written notices informing clients of
a pending telephone interview.
(B) The timeliness in contacting clients for telephone
interviews at the appointed time.
(C) The success rate for completion of a phone interview at
the appointed time.
(D) The process for rescheduling the telephone interview
if the interview is missed.
(E) Whether a client is notified that a scheduled telephone
interview has been missed.
(f) The performance audit must evaluate the modernization
project in the aggregate and by each separate roll out region.
(g) The entity contracted to conduct the performance audit and
the entity's employees and subcontractors:
(1) may not be contractors, key subcontractors, or primary
subcontractors under any agreement governing the
modernization project; and
(2) may not otherwise have a relationship with a contractor,
subcontractor, or employee involved in the modernization
project if the relationship would impair the entity in
conducting a performance audit under this SECTION.
(h) The entity contracted to conduct the performance audit shall
maintain adequate safeguards to keep confidential any public
assistance applicant or recipient information, or any other
information that is required by federal or state law to be kept
confidential. The entity may not use the information collected to
conduct the performance audit for any purpose other than the
performance audit.
(i) Before October 19, 2009, the entity contracted to conduct the
performance audit shall submit the performance audit in an
electronic format under IC 5-14-6 to the legislative council.
(j) The office of the secretary of family and social services, the
office of Medicaid policy and planning, the division of family
resources, and either office's or the division's employees,
contractors, and any subcontractors shall do the following:
(1) Cooperate with the entity conducting the performance
audit and the entity's employees and subcontractors in
carrying out the purposes of this SECTION, as determined by
the entity conducting the performance audit.
(2) Provide access to the entity conducting the performance
audit and the entity's employees and subcontractors to all
information and any facility that the entity conducting the
performance audit determines to be necessary or appropriate
to carry out the performance audit.
(k) Beginning July 1, 2009, and ending June 30, 2010, three
hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) is appropriated to the
legislative council from the state general fund for the purpose of
conducting a performance audit described in this SECTION.
(l) This SECTION expires July 1, 2010.