he Maryland Health Benefit Exchange came under intense scrutiny by legislators after its disastrous start implementing the Affordable Care Act two and half years ago. Now that the exchange and its technology seems to be working, legislators seem less anxious to probe its working and finances. That’s the conclusion from watching hearings in Annapolis over the exchange’s proposed fiscal 2017 budget testimony last month.
Whether you call him the new sheriff in town, or the public-sector incarnation of the muscle-bound wrestler “Hulk” Hogan, Governor Larry Hogan has meted out his own brand of “whoop ass” on flat-footed state bureaucrats while presiding over his first six meetings of the Board of Public Works, a three-member panel that approves major state procurements.
Since 2005, the Maryland Transit Administration, or MTA, has fallen short of the goal to bring in 35 cents in fares for every dollar spent. While state law mandates the goal and tasks the MTA to control costs while keeping fares low, the Office of Legislative Audits just reported a litany of cost-containment controls the transit agency failed to exercise.
The Maryland State Retirement System suffers from chronic underfunding—facing an actuarial shortfall for existing participants of $19.6 billion as of July 1, 2014. Fixing the shortfall will require decades of contributions’ discipline even while major demographic impediments and a clear risk of economic downturns (during the next 25 years) loom.
When legislative auditors examined training programs for the Mass Transit Administration run by Towson University they found no bid contracts, circumvented procurement regulations, lack of controls, undocumented work, doctored documents and many other problems. They made a criminal referral to the attorney general’s office.
Two high-level officials at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore had conflicts of interest in up to $1.9 million of spending and grants funneled through the university’s affiliated foundation and private companies, an audit has found. Auditors reported possible conflicts involving the university and its affiliated foundation, which promotes the university and its mission. The audit described potential conflicts involving the foundation and two private companies: one controlled by the foundation’s executive director and the other owned by a relative.
State officials responsible for overseeing construction of the health exchange platform faced two frightful choices under the contract to produce the website in the months preceding the Oct. 1, 2013 ”go live” date:
Terminate Noridian, and fail to bring any health exchange platform to market; or
Keep Noridian on the job while violating major contract provisions designed to maintain equilibrium between payments to Noridian, and the quality and completeness of their work.
The state decided on the latter.
Some local governments in Maryland are having difficulty preparing adequate financial statements and getting passing grades from their outside auditors, state auditors found in an annual review of local audit practices for the fiscal year ending June 2013.
But the report found that the City of Baltimore’s financial statements are improving, and it also stated the overall financial condition of three cities, including Cumberland, is improving.
State auditors found that the state Mental Health Administration found that the MHA failed to keep documentation showing patients who received over $16 million in mental health services were eligible and failed to maintain adequate security over computers and sensitive patient data.
Serious safety, soundness, and durability problems that are now causing indefinite delays with opening the $112 million Silver Spring Transit Center (SSTC) were attributable to negligence, inadequate oversight and other shortcomings with project management, construction, and engineering.
In other words, none of the principal parties has “clean hands” according to a study released last week by the independent Office of Inspector General for Montgomery County.
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