HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	104
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING AN AUDIT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES.

 

 

     WHEREAS, as part of the overhaul of the health care system, in addition to expanding the State's Medicaid program and in order to comply with the mandates of the Affordable Care Act, the Department of Human Services had the primary responsibility to design and build a new electronic eligibility system for Medicaid and to perform automated eligibility determinations. The vendor selected for this contract developed the Kuahale On-Line Eligibility Assistance (KOLEA) System, which is now the DHS Medicaid integrated eligibility system for the Med-QUEST Division; and

 

     WHEREAS, KOLEA, which was built with ninety percent federal funding, replaces a more than two decades old eligibility system, and is intended to advance Hawaii's Medicaid system by offering the applicants the option to submit applications online, in addition to submitting paper applications; and

 

     WHEREAS, KOLEA processed approximately 330,000 Medicaid renewals and applications for eligible residents in its first year of operation, but it was not without technical difficulties; and

 

     WHEREAS, with the input from the community and staff of the Department of Human Services, and a major scheduled maintenance in January 2015, many technical problems were resolved; and

 

     WHEREAS, KOLEA requires substantial federal and state funds to maintain and operate the system on an annual basis; and

 

     WHEREAS, KOLEA is the first phase of a larger DHS Enterprise Platform that is being developed to replace the other aged legacy information systems of the Department of Human Services that will require substantial and continued federal and state funds to design, build, operate, and maintain; and

 

     WHEREAS, as stewards of the public trust, the Legislature is concerned that public funds were used in an effective and efficient manner that have obtained the objectives the funds were intended to address; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to have an audit conducted of the Department of Human Services, including its Med-QUEST Division and KOLEA, the eligibility determination system of the Division; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the audit:

 

(1)  Examine the process of procurement of the KOLEA system and whether the system met the objectives and results expected; and

 

(2)  Make recommendations to improve purchase, design, operation, and maintenance processes and controls required to meet the Department of Human Services' continued development, operation, and maintenance of large information technology systems; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to submit findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2016; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, the Director of Human Services, and the Administrator of the Med-QUEST Division of the Department of Human Services.

Report Title:

Audit; DHS