HEY, BIG SPENDER: How Kathy Hochul’s admin handed firm a $1B Medicaid contract without competitive bidding.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Department of Health had initially handed Deloitte Consulting a $177 million contract in 2023 to centralize a part of the Medicaid application process that was still being handled by counties into one statewide portal.

But the contract ballooned well beyond that as the administration amended the deal by $866 million in August — a move watchdogs say should have triggered a public bidding process.
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“Once it is complete, this platform will save state taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars while allowing us to strengthen the program and reduce the potential for waste, fraud and abuse,” the DOH spokesperson said.

That’s what they always say.