Welfare reform in Maine has been a goal of Gov. Paul LePage’s since before he took office, and while we’re glad to see he is taking action on a review of this program, his approach is unfortunate.
The governor recently hired an outside consultant, Alexander Group, to conduct a $1 million review of Medicaid in the state. The decision was made without a bidding process or any sort of public discussion. In fact, the contract with Alexander Company was only made public in mid-November, though it had been in effect for two months.
While the company is being paid with combination of state and federal funds, $450,000 of that is coming from Maine’s general fund, according to reports. Alexander Company recently completed a similar study in Arkansas that only cost $220,000, according to news reports, and no LePage representative could tell the press why Maine is paying so much more.
The LePage administration claims that the company is ideal for the job, with “national expertise,” making it the only reasonable choice.
We doubt that’s the case, and by hiring this company secretively and without a bidding process, at a cost many believe to be too high, the governor has created an unnecessary firestorm and damaged public trust. This approach is reprehensible, and draws into question LePage’s motives for conducting the hiring of this consultant in such a secretive fashion.
Welfare costs do need to be kept in check; whether liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, no one wants part of their paycheck going toward supporting the undeserving who are abusing the system. Creating a welfare framework that supports only those who are truly in need and cannot support themselves is much easier said than done, however, and we are glad to see an independent consultant taking on the job.
Whether Alexander Group is the right company for the job, however, is up for debate, and so far we’re not impressed: The company has missed its Dec. 1 deadline for a report on whether Maine should expand Medicaid under the federal health care overhaul plan ”“ a step that LePage has rejected twice despite other states’ adoption. Democrats in the Legislature intend to bring this issue up again when they reconvene in January. If the report is not done in time, that will be money wasted.
Gary Alexander, who heads up Alexander Group, is the former welfare chief in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, and has been criticized for his drastic cost-cutting measures in those states. Such criticisms are bound to arise whenever any entitlement program is reduced, and we’d be more willing to give this company the benefit of the doubt if they had been chosen in a standard bidding process.
As it stands, however, it seems Alexander Group may have been hand-picked by LePage, based on its past reports for other states, not to provide an independent consultation, but to create a report that aligns with his personal goals for the state’s welfare program.
Whatever one thinks of welfare reform, there’s no denying that we’re disappointed by LePage’s decision to secretly hire a hand-picked firm at a high cost. This is not a dictatorship, and our legislators should have had more of a say in who would review Maine’s welfare situation, and at what price.
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