Members of Congress Scrutinize Navigators More Than a Run-up to Possible War

In the nervous run-up to a possible military strike in Syria, fifteen members of Congress last week took time from their busy vacations to sign a letter demanding more information from governmental contractors. 

But the targets of their attention were not the defense contractors who received $161 billion for their services.  They were universities, legal aid organizations, and small nonprofits who will share $67 million to help citizens apply for health insurance beginning in October.

The Congressional Gang of 15 included Fred Upton from Michigan, Pete Olson, Joe Barton and Michael Burgess from Texas, Tim Murphy and Joseph Pitts from Pennsylvania, Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee, Phil Gingrey from Georgia, Steve Scalise from Louisiana, Gregg Harper from Mississippi, Corey Gardner from Colorado, Morgan Griffith from Virginia, Bill Johnson from Ohio, Billy Long from Missouri, and Renee Ellmers from North Carolina.

They sprang into action after the grants were awarded in mid-August, demanding a response in writing within two weeks.

Here are some of their demands (thank you to Kaiser Health News for linking to the letter):

• “a written description of the work that will be performed,” including “a description of the number of employees, volunteers, or representatives that will be utilized and the pay and duties for each.”  
• A detailed budget for the program.
• “a written description of the training or education employees, volunteers, or representatives must complete,” plus educational requirements of the organization “beyond that required by any federal or state entity.”
• Supervisory processes and procedures.
• A description of how the organization will use the information obtained, including in follow-up communications with anyone with whom the organization speaks who might want to register to vote.
• Any communications with any health provider or any health insurance carrier to whom any individual might be referred for health care or coverage.
• All materials related to the grant application and award process.

Imagine being a 20 year old navigator in Florida just trying to help someone get insurance.  Do you really want some Congressman from Michigan “ACORNing” you if the person also asks you how to register to vote? 

Florida’s governor and do-nothing insurance commissioner aren’t going to help you.  They’ve already signaled their mistrust of navigators. 

You might think that any member of Congress who devotes so much vacation time to finding out whether sick people are getting help in finding a doctor would pay even more attention to matters that could soon drag our nation into another war.

And you might think that any member of the Congress taking time demanding this level of scrutiny about a program to help people get insured would apply a similar standard to other federal contractors. 

But you would be wrong.

When there’s more at stake, they sit back and wait.

Fred Upton, who has been on the job for twenty-five years and wrote the letter to the community agencies, hasn’t said a word in public about Syria.  He did, however, help a Vietnam veteran get his long-deserved service medals this month.  Pete Olson has no public position on military action, but said Congress should approve any.  Tim Murphy and Steve Scalise are among 140 members who want Congress “consulted” before the U.S. goes to war. And Billy Long went out on a limb when he asked the President to “tell his side of the story.”

If only they were as deferential about demanding the details about a paralegal contacting an insurer on behalf of a man with mental illness or a woman with cancer.

And take a look at the chart.  The value of the navigator contracts is so small compared to defense services contracts that you can’t even see it with the naked eye. 

As for the scrutiny they give to these other contracts that are worth 2499 times the value of the navigator contracts:

• They don’t demand educational credentials.  In the Snowden case, a 29 year old high school dropout was given access to “some of the most highly classified information in our government,” according to Sen. Susan Collins.
• They don’t t-cross and i-dot in advance. “According to the US Government Accountability Office in December 2012, there was a backlog of approximately 25,000 audits of DOD contractors as of the end of FY2011. “This backlog represents hundreds of billions of dollars,” GAO reported, and “has quadrupled over ten years.”
• And they don’t demand details about the numbers of employees, volunteers, or representatives, including their pay and duties.   Over 6500 contractors are working on $2 billion NSA expansion projects, according to a recent article.  As to who those contractors are, that information is simply described as “hush-hush.”

There is reason for outrage here.  You can decide over what.

Paul Gionfriddo via email: gionfriddopaul@gmail.com.  Twitter: @pgionfriddo.  Facebook: www.facebook.com/paul.gionfriddo.  LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/paulgionfriddo/