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ATC Director Troy Hebert orders background investigation of….LouisianaVoice publisher Tom Aswell; but did we pass?

March 11, 2013 by tomaswell

Well, folks, we’re received another letter here at LouisianaVoice Control Central and this time it’s signed.

It seems that Louisiana Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC) Director Troy Hebert is experiencing yet more PR problems for himself and his beleaguered office. That’s not to say, of course, that he doesn’t bring a lot of those problems on himself.

And like any good politician, he chooses to blame the messenger for his deteriorating public image—even going to the point of spending tax dollars ordering an investigation of yours truly which, I’m told, came up empty.

“You call yourselves investigators,” he told his agents a few weeks ago as he ordered them “to investigate Tom Aswell” because my credibility apparently isn’t as good as one might believe, according to one agent he fired two weeks ago. Apparently she didn’t come up with the negative background information Hebert wanted on this writer.

It’s not that Michelle Chavis didn’t try. In an interview with LouisianaVoice today, she said she checked all the newspapers for which I formerly worked as a reporter or editor—and came up dry. “You’re pretty boring,” she joked. “Actually, I found that you were very credible as a reporter and were well-respected by the older reporters and editors who remembered you.”

Well respected? Older reporters and editors? Who remembered me? If she found someone old enough to remember me, they must be in a home somewhere with a lap blanket and shoulder shawl eating bland pudding and waiting for a sponge bath from someone named Dutch.

And I haven’t spent 40 years as a reporter to be “well respected.” What kind of wimp-out is that?

Well, she did compare me favorably to the late John Copes who once had a web blog called The Deduct Box and for that comparison, I am flattered and humbled.

Be that as it may, Ms. Chavis, a veteran of 16 years in law enforcement was given her walking papers in a one-sentence note from Hebert after only four months on the job as a training specialist.

“I never saw it coming,” she said. “I’ve worked for the Shreveport Police Department and the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office and I’ve never been terminated from a job.

“Everything I ever suggested in the way of training was rejected out of hand by Mr. Hebert. The place was a mad house. And I can tell you that it’s true that he requires his employees to stand and chirp ‘Good morning, commissioner’ every time he enters a room.”

Chavis, after repeated unsuccessful attempts to gain an audience with Hebert to get an explanation for her dismissal, finally fired off a letter to her former boss.

With her permission, we edited some of the more inflammatory content.

Otherwise, the letter is as follows.:

Mr. Troy Hebert:

Two weeks ago, per your directive, I was issued my letter of termination by SAC Banks. After spending eight days in Baton Rouge and making regular contact with you during that time, it was a shame you could not have taken a moment to discuss the thought of dismissing me from the Agency. As a dedicated employee with exceptional PBS rankings, going above and beyond in my work and no inkling of a problem, an explanation on your decision would have been courteous.

I have few very basic expectations from this Agency; however, the spontaneous last-minute training session that you required was unorganized and shoddy. As a specialist, I should have been included on the planning and organization. A schedule and itinerary with a curriculum should have been a basic starting point. In November 2012, I submitted a very detailed list of suggested classes. Instead, I showed up and was required me to “perform on demand”—which I managed. I am not blaming Director Penouilh, as I believe he was doing the best he could with your last minute, over demanding brainstorm idea for a training session.

You wandered in and out of our training, shiftless seeking fault in others. You have a sharp dressed, useless look about you that may have worked for you when Gov. Jindal appointed you, but now that you actually have responsibility to run the ATC, you pawn it off on overworked staff, hoping their talent will cover for you flaring ineptitude. After your consistent and annoying harassment of my co-workers and me during our training session, with your childish accusations and finger pointing, I can only surmise that YOU are one of the few true wastes of our time and taxpayer dollars.

Asking me, a Training Specialist, to literally “read line for line” over 350 pages to college educated employees was not only a nuisance, insult and waste of time, but also a waste of precious oxygen. You want to criticize how ATC Agents waste taxpayer dollars and you give me a ridiculous directive to READ to eighteen Agents for TWO days? Adult learners respond best to visual, auditory, kinesthetic and environmental teaching. The number one style to AVOID is to READ to an adult.

I was hired because I know how to train employees. And you were apparently hired to supply amusement to Governor Jindal, who watches as you vainly attempt to understand the concept of running and agency while you sit back in your “private office” with you and your personal attorney Not all of us can play on our iPhones and chew bubble gum during your meetings without repercussions as does your legal counsel.

And last, but not least, during our meeting you quoted your height and weight and stated you didn’t understand why Tom Aswell’s readers refer to you as Little Troy Hebert. It was that moment that I realized just how incredibly naïve you are. Let me help you, sir. The readers are not referring to your physical description. They are referring to your character.

It was YOU who gave Agents the directive to read the articles posted on LouisianaVoice. Until then, I had never heard of the blog. It was also YOU who gave the directive to research Tom Aswell. Well sir, I have done my homework. I have found him to have to same humor and talent as John Copes of deductbox.com. If only John Copes were alive today …. I am sure he would have a field day with your shenanigans.

Sincerely,

Michelle Chavis

Posted in ATC, Ethics, Politics | 93 Comments »

Letter to U.S. Attorney, LouisianaVoice claims continuing pattern of RFP bid rigging, vendor favortism at OGB, DOA

March 9, 2013 by tomaswell

New claims of possible bid rigging and unfair trade practices within the Office of Group Benefits (OGB) and the Division of Administration (DOA), have surfaced in a two-page letter sent to the U.S. Attorney’s office and to LouisianaVoice this week.

OGB is a multi-billion dollar agency which administers health benefit claims for state employees, retirees and their dependents.

If true, it would be the third time in less than two years that insider negotiations have been conducted between a potential bidder, OGB and DOA preparatory to DOA’s issuing a request for proposals (RFP).

A copy of the unsigned, undated letter also was addressed to State Rep. Katrina Jackson (D-Monroe) and to Louisiana Inspector General (IG) Stephen Street, though the writer expressed skepticism over any anticipated action by the IG’s office.

“I am writing as a concerned citizen who has had enough,” the letter said. “I write out of concern that there is something fundamentally wrong with the operations of the Division of Administration. I included the Inspector General out of protocol, but not with the expectation that he will act.”

The letter accused DOA, through OGB of engaging “in a pattern of behavior that has to be, at the very least, unethical” in its dealings with a South Carolina company.

“Within the past few months, the staff of the Office of Group Benefits has been instructed to conduct multiple meetings with a business called BenefitFocus (which is in the business of group health eligibility activity).

“The problem with these meetings is that the blatantly expressed reason for the meetings is the preparation of an RFP on which the company will then bid.

“In fact, in the last meeting,” the writer said, “there was an open discussion on how to either construct an RFP that will yield the company an insurmountable advantage or (that would) make the company a ‘sole source’ vendor that will eliminate competition.”

BenefitFocus is headquartered in Charleston, S.C. and its web page describes it as “the country’s leading provider of benefits technology.” It claims more than 18 million members and 300,000 employers who manage “all types of benefits” through the company which “provides employers, insurance carriers, consumers and government entities with cloud-based technology to shop, enroll, manage and exchange benefits information.

“BenefitFocus clients include small, medium and large employers from all industries, as well as the nation’s top insurance companies,” the website says.

Among the clients listed were Blue Cross/Blue Shield in several states, including Louisiana.
The anonymous writer described the activity between OGB and BenefitFocus as a “pattern,” saying such events have occurred at least twice before.

“The first instance was when OGB (by order of DOA) was looking for a financial advisor. The eventual successful vendor was Goldman Sachs, who had participated in multiple OGB meetings before the bid process and who even had the audacity to help write the RFP,” the letter said.

On April 13, 2011, CNS learned that Goldman Sachs had been active in discussions about the planned privatization of OGB as far back as October or November of 2010. That was about the same time that the idea of privatizing OGB was first floated to then-OGB CEO Tommy Teague in a meeting between then-Deputy Commissioner of Administration Mark Brady, Teague and four representatives of Goldman Sachs.

Teague was fired two days after LouisianaVoice published that story.

When it came time to open the proposals for the project, Goldman Sachs was the only bidder and stood to receive $6 million in fees for its services, whether it was successful in finding a buyer for OGB or not.

Gov. Bobby Jindal eventually rejected the Goldman Sachs bid after details of the Wall Street banking firm’s involvement were made public and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana was ultimately awarded the contract to serve as a third party administrator over OGB’s preferred provider (PPO) organization. BCBS also administers other claims for OGB under a separate contract.

“Earlier in 2012, the letter said, “OGB staff was directed to have multiple meetings with Extend Health, a company in the Medicare Advantage exchange business. The staff attended the meetings and helped answer background questions.

“In later activity with the company, an RFP was drafted (a very narrow drafting) that gave Extend Health a nearly sickening advantage in the bidding,” the writer said. “Of course, Extend Health won.”

Extend Health, the largest private Medicare exchange in the U.S., offers access to multiple Medicare plans for 2013. Retirees who enroll in a Medicare plan through the Extend Health exchange are enrolled in a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) and received HRA credits of $200 to $300 per month from the state up to a maximum of $2,400 per year for single coverage and $3,600 for family coverage.

The credits may be used to pay premiums for Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare Part B. Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, Medigap plans and dental and vision plans.

LouisianaVoice has made public records requests for copies of all correspondence between OGB, DOA and BenefitFocus.

Let’s see how long it takes DOA to invoke the ol’ “deliberative process” exemption.

Posted in Attorney General, Ethics, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, OGB, Office of Group Benefits, Privatization, RFP, Request for Proposals | 20 Comments »

Notable Quotables (in their own words)

March 8, 2013 by tomaswell

“No one is taking a look at this. That is what a leader does.”

—Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) member Lottie Beebe, commenting that no one in charge at the Louisiana Department of Education (DOE) has done anything to address complaints of stress on the part of public school teachers because of the new annual reviews.

Posted in BESE, Education, Notable Quotables | 1 Comment »

BESE takes funding from disabled students with MFP passage as Chas Roemer tells Lottie Beebe to pipe down

March 8, 2013 by tomaswell

When the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) for 2013-14, it sent a message across Louisiana that the board and the Department of Education (DOE) have little or no concern for the education of some 82,000 children with disabilities.

It’s not enough that state aid to local school districts is frozen for the fifth consecutive year, but the MFP as approved by BESE will actually cost the local districts every time a student transfers from a public school to a private school.

The action, passed by an 8-3 vote on Friday, appears on the surface to save local school districts money, but the reality is—as Gov. Bobby Jindal and Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols are fond of saying—every time a student leaves a public school to accept the still as yet unconstitutional voucher funding to enter a private school, it costs the local district nearly $1,450.

Funding under the MFP is extremely complex because of a number of factors that are taken into account in the process. There are different levels of funding under several criteria, including graduation rate, performance, placement and disability.

Theoretically, the state pays districts an average of $8,537 per enrolled student, though students rarely, if ever bring that precise amount because of the variables in the formula, including the type of disability a student may have. But when a student leaves, those characteristics are not taken into account and the student takes $6,311 in funding with him or her.

On the face of it, that would mean the local districts would keep the difference of $2,226—except it doesn’t work that way. Instead, the state keeps 65 percent of that savings, or $1,447.

If 10 students leave, for example, that would mean the local school board would lose $14,470 in state funding over and above the $63,110 in funding that each of the 10 students takes out of the local system. So the local school system, which had a set amount of money coming in based on the MFP formula, is now losing money.

The Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council (LDDC) said the use of a different funding formula for traditional public schools than for school choice programs would result in funding inequities for children with disabilities.

That’s putting it mildly.

It’s enough that Jindal and State Superintendent of Education John White would flaunt a court decision, to defy a judge’s ruling that using state money designated for local school systems to fund private vouchers. But to deliberately and with no show of compassion, jerk funding away from special education students is nothing short of unconscionable.

Students with disabilities make up 12.5 percent of traditional public schools but only 8 percent of charter schools and just 3 percent of private schools. Even more significant, in most cases students with disabilities who are enrolled in school choice programs are not those with the most severe, most costly disabilities.

Consequently, more funds leave the traditional public school systems than the MFP formula indicates the local systems should have based on student enrollment. Funds removed from public schools left serving students with disabilities are either provided to the school choice program or, in the case of the scholarship, the state claims an inflated savings.

The reality is (there’s that term again), when all transactions are complete, schools serving higher percentages of students with disabilities, particularly those with severe disabilities, tend to have less funding than expected, LDDC says.

Neither the Special Education Advisory Panel, nor the Louisiana Association of Special Education Administrators, nor the Superintendents’ Advisory Committee nor the Louisiana Together Educating All Children (LaTEACH) recommended or agreed with phasing in the proposed changes.

When member Lottie Beebe attempted to speak out against the proposal, BESE President Chas Roemer interrupted his daydream of running for the U.S. Senate against Mary Landrieu long enough to attempt to silence Beebe by saying, “I think you have made your point.”

“I’m not finished,” Beebe shot back, leveling a broadside at Roemer for his earlier claim that he wants to close the Department of Education.

But all that mattered little to White, eight of the 11 BESE members or to Jindal, who has closed mental hospitals in New Orleans and Mandeville, moved to privatize state hospitals in what he calls “partnerships” with private facilities, and attempted to terminate the state’s hospice program. Public backlash over the move to shut down funding for hospice caused Jindal to miraculously “find” a million dollars to continue the program.

And don’t forget his ongoing efforts to abolish the state income tax in favor of increasing sales taxes, a move that would help the wealthy while increasing the burden on the low- and middle-income residents of Louisiana.

Even though BESE approved the MFP, it must be accepted—or rejected—by the Louisiana Legislature which convenes on April 8.

Meanwhile, the administration is moving forward with its appeal of the ruling by District Judge Tim Kelley that the method of funding the state voucher program is unconstitutional. The Jindal administration has suffered four separate setbacks in the courts as it attempts to implement the far-ranging education “reform” package passed by the legislature last year.

Several legislators have expressed second thoughts at the speed with which those “reforms” were enacted, especially in light of the various court decisions.

Jindal, however, is following the game plan of the American Legislative Exchange Council to the letter and, through White, is attempting to funnel contracts to a company owned by Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox Television network and the Wall Street Journal—and probably to other political allies, though White thus far has not complied with LouisianaVoice’s request for a list of DOE contracts.

If anyone still wonders about Jindal’s motives, we would remind you of Murdoch’s brash observation: “When it comes to K-12 education, we see a $500 billion sector in the U.S. alone that is waiting desperately to be transformed by big breakthroughs that extend the reach of great teaching.”

The question, of course, is just who defines great teaching?

As we have repeatedly said in past stories and will continue to remind our readers, it’s all about the money. Never forget that. Louisiana’s school children are merely pawns in a very expensive chess game. They are quite simply a means to an end—a very lucrative end.

If anyone still thinks Jindal and White are truly interested in the education of our children, one need only check the record and the myriad of state contracts awarded by DOE—if you can obtain the list.

The biggest mystery of all, however, is just how long are the citizens of Louisiana going to sit on the sideline and let this evil little man continue to exploit the low- and middle-income citizens of this state?

Forget about his running for president in three years; the here and now are far too important for us to remain passive while he continues to rape our state. His DNA is already smeared all over the state’s poor from his repeated past abuses.

Posted in ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, BESE, Education, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, Revenue, Transparency | 7 Comments »

First it was mental health, then hospitals and hospice; now immunization program terminated at parish health units

March 6, 2013 by tomaswell

First it was the closure of Southeast Louisiana Hospital, shutting off mental health services to residents of the state’s most densely populated area, then there was the move to “partner” state hospitals across the state with private facilities, followed by an unsuccessful attempt to terminate Hospice care.

Now Gov. Bobby Jindal, in submitting his executive budget, has announced intentions to cease immunizing the state’s indigent children at parish health units throughout the state.

Instead, private pediatricians will take over the duties of immunizing children under the state’s Vaccines for Children (VFC) program.

Through the VFC program, vaccine is made available at no charge to enrolled public and private health care providers for eligible children, according to the Department of Health and Hospitals web page.

Children 18 years of age and younger who are Medicaid eligible, uninsured, American Indian or native Alaskan are eligible for VFC.

But even if the immunizations themselves remain free, pediatricians will probably charge for an office visit—particularly those who do not accept Medicaid patients.

The cuts to the program were included in the Executive Budget presented to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget on Feb. 22. “One of the items included (in the budget) was restructuring of the administration of the DHH Office of Public Health’s (OPH) Vaccines for Children program,” said a statement released by DHH on Wednesday.

“Under the proposed restructuring, children who received immunizations at parish health units would be transitioned to receive immunizations by their private pediatricians or health care providers, where 92 percent of children already receive their immunizations through the program,” the statement said.

The DHH web page indicated that parish health units provide only about 5 percent of all immunizations statewide.

“The DHH Office of Public Health recently sent pediatric immunizations providers a notice letting them know this was proposed as an element of the State’s fiscal year budget,” DHH’s statement said.

“The proposal is on the table,” a DHH spokesperson added.

“Providers administer the bulk of their childhood vaccines in July and August as part of back-to-school preparations, so OPH wanted providers to be aware of this proposed program restructuring in advance,” the statement released by DHH said.

The final budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on July 1, 2013, will not be determined until the legislative session which begins on April 8, DHH said. “Until the legislature passes a final operating budget for FY-14, exact details of the elements involved will not be discernible,” the statement said.

Efforts to learn the administrative cost of the immunization program at the parish health units also were not immediately successful but federal VFC programs provide the vaccine to doctors and other providers at no costs.

Posted in Budget, Governor's Office, Health Care | 17 Comments »

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