Raimondo Administration Claims It Has Recovered $30M of UHIP Payments

Raimondo Administration Claims It Has Recovered $30M of UHIP Payments

Governor Gina Raimondo’s administration announced Wednesday that the state will retain the majority of the $50 million payment that Raimondo negotiated last year from Deloitte Consulting LLP, the vendor who built the UHIP system -- now branded the RI Bridges public-benefits computer system.

The UHIP program originally began under Governor Lincoln Chafee with a price tag of $119 million, but the project was expanded by Raimondo to a $246 million cost. Since that expansion, the price has ballooned to now, more than $647 million.

The UHIP program has been plagued by hundreds of millions in cost overruns, federal court takeovers, and state investigations. 

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Following months of discussions with federal partners, the $50 million payment will be split as follows: $30 million to the State of Rhode Island and $20 million to be shared by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). 

According to the Raimondo administration, Deloitte has not been paid since December 2016, and the state has received more than $220 million in discounts and payments from Deloitte in that time frame. The decision on the payment split will allow the state to execute the contract extension with Deloitte that was announced last year. The value of savings associated with this contract extension, which runs through June 2021, includes the cash payment, credits, and discounts totaling $141.5 million.

The $30 million payment will allow the state to maintain funding for current priorities within Fiscal Year 2020, including supporting personnel, contracts, hardware and software for this critical integrated eligibility system. RI Bridges serves more than one-third of Rhode Islanders who use various health and human services programs, including Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and HealthSource RI. 

The 10-year budget for this project includes $149 million in state funds and nearly $500 million in federal funds. It replaced declining legacy systems and established the state's health exchange, HealthSource RI, resulting in a decrease in the uninsured rate in RI from 11 percent to less than 4 percent.