Feds reviewing potential $1 billion privatization pact
Source: KEN KUSMER, Associated Press (IN), October 31, 2006
The state is on course to privatize by Jan. 1 the system of determining who's eligible for the food stamps, Medicaid and welfare received by one in six Indiana residents. ….. FSSA officials have said for months that they were negotiating with a single team of contractors led by IBM Corp. and Affiliated Computer Services Inc. FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob has said the contract would be worth about $1 billion over 10 years. ………..The potential deal has come under scrutiny because of problems that other states have had with similar contracts, and Gov. Mitch Daniels named a team of top aides from outside FSSA to review the need for outsourcing the services. …… "The administration continues to push through this privatization scheme when they have yet to show any social or financial benefits from it," said David Patterson, a spokesman for council 62 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.