WPRO News
Two whistleblowers who walked into his campaign headquarters last weekend told Allan Fung that they witnessed questionable practices in the rush to enter data in the scramble after the troubled rollout of the so-called UHIP benefits computer system in early 2017.
The Republican candidate for Governor told reporters Thursday that one current and one former state employee detailed to the offices of contractor Deloitte were told to “just click through” when entering social security information for benefits applicants who had no social security numbers. Fung said they claimed that the computer system would “auto populate” the application with what looked like actual social security numbers.
“According to them, it looked like a real social security number that no one would question,” Fung said outside the offices of the state Department of Health and Human Services. He said he referred the two workers to the Inspector General’s hotline at the federal Department of Health and Human Services, adding that he would not identify the workers.
Fung said additional costs to what he called “the rushed UHIP launch” have brought the total to $660 million.
“UHIP is turning the corner,” said Michael Raia, Senior Advisor for Gov. Gina Raimondo’s campaign. “Governor Raimondo … acknowledges the mistakes that were made and what she learned from them. She made leadership changes, she hasn’t paid Deloitte in a year and a half, and she has held them accountable to the tune of $86 million.”
“Allan Fung has been rooting against the progress the state has made to fix the system. Today’s stunt, where he made accusations without offering evidence, makes clear that his campaign is increasingly desperate,” said Raia in a statement.
This story has been updated to include a response from the Raimondo campaign.
