The 61.8 million dollar deal was subject to intense lobbying efforts on all sides, and the council's rejection of the lowest bidder -- the ACS company, led a key lawmaker to cry foul
The Medicaid management information system deal would have been the largest information technology contract in state history…And the contract generated supstantial interest from four vendors: Unisys, First health , EDS, and ACS……..When the bids came in ACS was by far the lowest…..A point stressed to the council by Health and human services commissioner John Stephen.
"Not only was it the best product it was the best price by 10 million dollars, 11 million dollars."
Stephen also pitched the qualifications of the state health and computer experts who vetted the proposals and wrote the proposed agreement……..The commissioner called the team "NH's best and brightest." He also several times touted what he called the "tightness" of the contract.
"I can assure you it's tighter than I even expected as commissioner…"
The councils three most senior members, Republicans, Ray Burton, Ruth Griffin and Peter Spalding were unpursuaded……Burton said he felt EDS -- the incumbent company -- has done a good job……Griffin complained that the selection process ignored the concerns of county commissioners…Spalding, for his part confessed reservations over how ACS has administered another high profile state program -- the ez-pass toll system……He added that he found Stephen's talk of tight contracts meaningless.
"Well, there's no way I can look through that thing and say yes, certainly looks tight to me. I mean, really."
The councilors who supported the agreement, Nashua Democrat Deborah Pignatelli and Manchester Republican Ray Weiczorek also had plenty of questions about the deal, but concluded the ACS was the right choice…….Councilor Pignatelli said her decision was also informed by several days of research into how ACS has performed in other states.
"After that I was convinced that ACS was he better company to do it, the most reliable……and by far the least expensive…..But I understand that there was a powerful lobbying effort on the other side and people listen to them."
And the Lobbying on all sides was by all accounts intense……Far too intense for some apparently……Senate Majority Leader Bob Clegg was fuming after the ACS failed to wrest the deal away from EDS.
"We’re probably paying claims we should not be paying Eds has been in trouble with us over and over and over again, and all because EDS so now were stuck with an antiquated system all because there represented by one of the good old boys. That's not right -- that's horseshit."
The person Clegg is alluding to, former state senate president Ed Dupont rejected the idea that the interests of the people or heath and human services had been hijacked by lobbysists.
"Just the opposite, I would say one of the things that I all the vendors were expecting was that the department would come back to them and request best and final offers…..And that did not take place…so there were other things with the process that could have been done better, and that's basically the end of it."
Where the state goes from here with revamping its Medicaid information system is unclear……Plausible options include Finalists for the contract being asked to resubmit final proposals…..Or the entire bid process could be done over again…..Estimates on how long that might take vary. ……Neither Commissioner Stephen, not any of the half-dozen staffers who attended the council vote would comment on anything to do with the vote, the bid process, or the future of the state's Medicaid computer system.
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