[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 193 (Thursday, December 15, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H8994]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 NORTH CAROLINA MEDICAID BOONDOGGLE SHOWS NEED FOR MORE ACCOUNTABILITY

  (Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, this week I learned of a recent audit of North 
Carolina's Medicaid billing system. Normally, I don't bring up State 
issues like this before the House, but it turns out that this isn't 
just a State issue.
  North Carolina is currently upgrading its Medicaid billing system and 
agreed to pay a contractor $265 million to make the upgrades. But 
surprise, surprise, the upgrade will end up costing $495 million--
nearly twice as much.
  Who cares? That's a problem for North Carolina taxpayers; right? Not 
so fast.
  It turns out that the Federal Government is expected to pick up 90 
percent of the tab for this new system. That means all taxpayers, 
including North Carolina taxpayers, will be shelling out an extra $200 
million to cover for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human 
Services' incompetence and inability to keep a lid on costs. Making 
matters worse, this department went so far as to give itself an ``A'' 
grade for managing the upgrade program.
  Mr. Speaker, I doubt taxpayers will give the folks at the North 
Carolina Department of Health and Human Services an ``A'' for flushing 
$200 million of their money down the toilet.
  This is a classic example of how government bureaucracies view 
Federal taxpayer dollars--as manna from heaven. This money is not manna 
from heaven. It is taken directly out of the pockets of hardworking 
taxpayers from across the Nation. When taxpayers hear stories like 
this, they wonder why they even pay taxes in the first place. It's no 
wonder they give Big Government a failing grade.

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