Regardless of whatever political party one associates with these days, there is no denying that the Affordable Care Act—Obamacare—has become the main driver of the widening partisan divide. Love it or hate it, President Barack Obama’s namesake legislation is under assault and will continue to stoke political fires through the midterm elections. There’s no doubt North Carolina Republicans will seize on the healthcare debate in November, but they shouldn’t be the only ones.
Though the Obamacare rollout and initial implementation has been under constant attack from all sides, it’s wondrous why North Carolinians haven’t raised the same criticisms of Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration and its failed management at the Department of Health and Human Services.
At the start of the month, news broke that DHHS had mailed more than 30,000 Medicaid cards to the wrong families. The scandal has opened the state up to potential lawsuits. Plus, the Department may have tried to cover up the story or at least keep it quiet. Some officials allegedly knew of the problem before the news broke.
In just one year at DHHS, Secretary Aldona Wos has presided over an endless parade of scandals and stumbles. In the summer of 2013, she and her staff oversaw the implementation of NCTracks and NC FAST, computer software systems that would deliver payments for Medicaid and SNAP benefits, respectively. But even two months after the launch, doctors remained unpaid and some went into the red to provide Medicaid services, which recipients have a federal right to. More appalling, thousands of families across the state—some estimates as high as 30,000—have been facing a backlog of nutritional benefits since the summer. The problem is so severe that the USDA has threatened to pull funding and sent a final notice on Dec. 11.
If Wos’s problems were all practical, the situation wouldn’t be unreasonable. However, she’s facing political travails, too. For instance, The News & Observer reports that one Mr. John Hauck raked in $228,000 in eight months at DHHS. For perspective, Mr. Hauck made $28,500 per month, while the average family in N.C. makes just over $4,500 per month. Not to mention, the average N.C. worker most likely turns in a reasonable performance to keep that income—Mr. Hauck spent eight months advising what appears to be a failing system. Most appalling, this story broke after two other staffers were in the news for $80,000-a-year salaries for positions that many claimed they weren’t qualified for, yet both worked on then-candidate McCroy’s gubernatorial campaign. McCrory said that he feels Wos is a “mentor” to him.
Democrats in the General Assembly have been raising questions about the mismanagement at DHHS, but their small numbers in the legislature make it difficult to force any action. House Minority Leader Larry Hall (D-Durham) and the House Black Caucus have called for Wos’s resignation.
The Secretary has testified before the Assembly twice, the most recent instance occurring last Tuesday. The GOP in the legislature generally awarded Wos the benefit of the doubt, as she claimed that the ACA was one of the main drivers of dysfunction at DHHS. The majority party has even convened a special panel to investigate the “true” effect of the ACA on North Carolina. The problem with that approach is that every state manages these programs and has to handle the ACA. Yet N.C. continues to perform dismally when it comes to healthcare.
Wos said in her testimony Tuesday, she expects her department to “get things right 100 percent of the time.” Unfortunately, DHHS has gotten things right nearly 0 percent of the time. Technology problems are one thing, but wages and malpractice are cause for an internal investigation. However, McCrory continues to support the embattled Secretary, and the Republican-led General Assembly hasn’t taken any real steps to ameliorate the problem, either. Americans are right to criticize the federal government botched healthcare rollout. Isn’t it time North Carolina criticized the failure in its own backyard, too?
