Governor To Privatize Benefits
Gov. Mitch Daniels will hold a press conference in his office at the Statehouse at 11 a.m. in order to announce his plans for privatization of the state’s benefits program, including eligibility for Medicaid, food stamps, and welfare. The contract is said to be worth $1 billion over 10 years.
For months, the only negotiation on the table has been with a group led by IBM and Affiliated Computer Services, a company under fire for ethics infractions.
Daniels insists that this is the best way to serve the citizens of Indiana; that the old system is inefficient and needs to be reformed.
If this reformation comes anywhere close to benefiting Hoosiers, I’ll be very surprised. More likely, many people who need their benefits will be left waiting for an unreasonable amount of time, or will be cut off altogether. On the other hand, the state will get to build a few more highways, develop a few more state parks, and hand out a few more corporate payoffs.
