EDITORIAL: It is Time to Fire Deloitte

EDITORIAL: It is Time to Fire Deloitte

Make no mistake about it — the UHIP healthcare infrastructure is a $500 million disaster. And, now it is moving towards a $600 million cost structure. No one can say where it will end.

The UHIP program was initiated under the administration of then-Governor Lincoln Chafee and has been implemented under the administration of Governor Gina Raimondo.

The blame game has gone on for months and is now increasing as we move closer to Election Day. The reality is that the project is an unabashed failure.

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It is such a failure that federal court Judge Will Smith appointed Deming Sherman as special master last fall to oversee the food stamp program. The House of Representatives’ Oversight Committee has had dozens of hours of hearings on the failed program.

House Oversight’s chair Patricia Serpa has repeatedly said she has little hope that this $600 million tech meltdown will ever function.

At what point will leadership be demonstrated?

There is little doubt that this project will end in extensive litigation. At this point, there is no good remedy and, therefore, the focus should be on the user of these programs and the taxpayer. 

It is now time for Governor Raimondo and legislative leaders — Speaker of the House Nick Mattiello and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio — to pull the plug. It is time to Issue a new RFP, wind-down Deloitte’s work and develop a new, functioning program.

The Rhode Islanders who depend on these critical health and social service programs deserve better than political machinations and failed accountability.

Rhode Island deserves better.