How To Make A Change My Mind Meme

That French phrase came to mind in recent weeks every bit I discovered that DC Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Wayne Turnage and other officials in Mayor Muriel Bowser's administration seemed to be up to their old shenanigans around a new Medicaid managed care procurement. The initial request for proposals (RFP) released in November required that each bidder submit a signed agreement with every hospital in the city, knowing that MedStar Health — which operates three hospitals in the District — previously refused to make such arrangements with at least one company.

Then, the DC Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP) refused to accept new certification dates for local and minority companies that had been provided by the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development; that determination resulted in 3 of the iv initial bidders existence "disqualified," according to regime sources.

Trying to recover from that self-generated problem, the OCP announced a "supplemental solicitation" on Feb. 1. It as well added linguistic communication indicating that applicant scores would not ultimately determine the winner. "Rather, the total scores will guide the District in making an intelligent award determination based upon the evaluation criteria."

Am I the but person smelling a foul odour?

The more things modify, the more they stay the same, indeed.

Before all of that, the DC Board of Ethics and Government Accountability opened an investigation in response to a complaint that accused Turnage and DC Quango staffer Eric Goulet of violating the DC government employee Code of Conduct.

Farther, the Contract Appeals Board issued an opinion in response to Amerigroup DC'southward formal complaints about the bungled 2020 managed care procurement that resulted in AmeriHealth Caritas DC Inc., CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Customs Wellness Plan and MedStar Family Choice existence alleged the winning bidders. In essence, the CAB asserted that the DC Council had stripped it of its jurisdiction and say-so in this case.

"On November sixteen, 2021, the Board denied and dismissed the September 10, 2021, protest in CAB No. P-1128, holding that: the Council of the District of Columbia, via the Contracts with Managed Intendance Organizations for the Provision of Wellness Care Services to District Residents Approval and Authorization Emergency Human activity of 2021 ('MCO Contracts Emergency Human activity'), specifically removed the Board'due south jurisdiction to hear protests regarding the exercise of AmeriHealth's and CareFirst'south option periods and Contract No. CW94721 with MedStar," wrote Administrative Law Judge Nicholas Majett, with Chief Authoritative Police Judge Marc Loud Sr. concurring.

Interestingly, Majett made a point of asserting that the mayor did not circumvent the CAB'southward initial ruling that required the reevaluation. He fabricated no mention, nevertheless, of the executive's subsequent manipulation of that reassessment.

In an e-mail dated Dec. 31 to the mayor's communications director, LaToya Foster (a copy of which was sent to me and others), Turnage called the CAB'south stance a "significant win for the Mayor in that the CAB specifically noted that the Mayor (and by extension OCP and the Section of Health Intendance Finance) did not violate the CAB'southward December i, 2020, ruling."

Turnage is an expert propagandist.

Don't let your eyes glaze over. The managed care contract is $1.five billion of public money annually. It affects the health intendance of more 250,000 adults and children. Information technology is not some pocket-sized authorities procurement.

Let's go to the clips: Readers may recall that in 2020 — during the opening chapter of the pandemic — Bowser and Turnage decided to shift the wellness intendance of tens of thousands of Medicaid recipients and members of the DC Wellness Care Alliance. That procurement became a messy affair, with Amerigroup DC filing multiple protests over the next twelvemonth.

The CAB ruled the administration violated local "procurement laws and regulations likewise every bit the terms of the solicitation." Information technology also determined that the evaluation of the offerors' proposals was "unreasonable" and that the contracting officeholder "failed to independently evaluate the proposals." The mayor and her minions were ordered to reevaluate the bids; the visitor with the everyman score would be excluded. A CAB ruling on some other Medicaid contracting thing made it clear that MedStar would likely be the loser.

Throughout near of 2021, Turnage went all-in to prevent MedStar Family unit Choice Inc. from being kicked out. Amongst other things, he sought the council's assist, including via legislation to provide a waiver to the city'south procurement law. The deputy mayor seemed engaged in deliberate contract steering in plain public view.

The quango became a conspirator when, post-obit Chairman Phil Mendelson'southward lead, information technology disregarded its own previous pledge not to neuter the CAB and canonical the MCO emergency legislation in early on October.

That bill ignored the fact that the reevaluation — which occurred on Sept. 28, prior to the finish of the fiscal year, as per the CAB's initial ruling — shifted the winning bidders. AmeriHealth Caritas of DC Inc. came in first. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Community Health Plan of DC was second. Amerigroup DC, which had been denied a contract, came in third. MedStar Family Selection Inc. was fourth; it was the loser, co-ordinate to facts presented in Majett's written opinion.

The information about the evaluation was never fabricated public — although Bowser administration officials and lawyers at the DC Office of the Chaser Full general knew the results earlier the quango took its vote. The OAG was the legal representative of the Department of Health Care Finance earlier the CAB; Turnage is simultaneously DHCF executive manager and the deputy mayor.

Upon going through the motions of a off-white review, the Bowser administration institute a mode to block Amerigroup'southward ascent to contractor. "Afterwards performing a re-evaluation as ordered by the Board, the District removed MedStar's proposal from farther consideration, ranked Amerigroup tertiary amongst the three remaining offerors, and determined that a contract accolade could not be made to Amerigroup considering it did not accept a hospital agreement with MedStar Health hospitals," Majett wrote in his opinion.

That, honey readers, is an case of the fine art of contract steering.

Giving the mayor an assist, the council, through its emergency legislation, awarded MedStar Family Choice a new sole-source agreement.

The machinations and maneuvers around the 2020 procurement make clear, in my view, why the OCP has decided to include language in its latest offering that could moot evaluation scores. Authorities sources told me the OAG continues to advise both the OCP and the deputy mayor during the procedure of this new 2022 procurement.

"Whatever legal advice OAG provides to District agencies is protected past chaser-client privilege, and only the customer tin can waive privilege. We don't have [a] annotate here, and I'd suggest reaching out to the mayor's office or OCP with additional questions about managed care contracting," the OAG spokesperson told me.

Cody A. Leihgeber-Carpenter, the OCP communications manager, told me via email that language in the request for proposals issued by "OCP on behalf of our client agencies" is intended "to ensure the Commune obtains goods and services at the best value for District residents."

Further, he said, "Amendments issued during the solicitation stage permit the Commune to clarify or elaborate on its requirements. Amendments are posted publicly on OCP'south website."

Leihgeber-Carpenter didn't explain why a 2nd solicitation was released or why the traditional apply of scores as the key evaluation tool to determine a procurement winner is beingness deemphasized for what appears a more than "subjective" option model.

Adding more subjectivity to the DC government's procurement process seems like a unsafe precedent.

Equally for the BEGA investigation into allegations that Turnage and Goulet violated the employee Code of Conduct, the agency's director, Ashley Cooks, did not reply to my request for comment.

"I will non legitimize this egregious alienation of government protocol past opining on a BEGA investigation before they render a decision in response" to the complaint, Turnage told me via email. "Yous should inform your source that her breach of the [confidentiality] of this process cannot easily be reconciled with her position in District government."

I'm confused as to whom Turnage is referring.

Goulet was equally disturbed past the investigation when we spoke by telephone final week. He was accused of having a conflict of interest considering his wife works for Georgetown University; MedStar owns and manages Georgetown Academy Hospital. He refused to comment on the tape that day.

Two days afterwards, on Friday evening, he sent an email, indicating that he had "received confirmation today from BEGA that the investigation into the complaint filed against me is considered closed and that BEGA has dismissed the complaint. I am grateful to BEGA for their thoroughness, fairness, and professionalism in promptly investigating and dismissing this frivolous and vindictive personal set on confronting me and my family unit."

I asked him to share his correspondence with BEGA. Goulet didn't respond to that email asking.

At-large DC Council member Robert White, chair of the Committee on Government Operations and Facilities, has oversight of OCP. Through a spokesperson he promised to "continue to monitor this procurement given its importance to the city and the incredible challenges the District has seen with the MCO procurement process over the last few months and years."

"We expect to go more than information at our upcoming oversight hearing of OCP on Feb 17th," he added.

Stay tuned.

jonetta rose barras is an author and freelance journalist, covering national and local issues including politics, childhood trauma, public education, economical evolution and urban public policies. She can exist reached at thebarrasreport@gmail.com .