PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island will get $30 million from a settlement with the company that designed a troubled computer system for its benefits programs, the state Department of Human Services announced Wednesday.
The $50 million payment from Deloitte Consulting LLP will be shared between the state and the federal government. Rhode Island is slated to get $30 million, with the rest shared by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the U.S. Food and Nutrition Service.
Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo has said she was hoping for about $30 million and budgeted for that amount.
She extended an agreement last year for Deloitte to continue operating and maintaining the system through June 2021. The deal included a cash payment to the state, credits and discounts from Deloitte.
The state rolled out the system, which handles applications for food stamps, Medicaid and other benefits, in 2016 despite warnings from the federal government that it wasn’t ready. That resulted in a backlog of thousands of applications.
The system includes benefits programs used by more than one-third of Rhode Island residents.
Backlogs have dropped, timeliness has improved across programs and system incidents are at their lowest, the human services department said Wednesday.
