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Rhode Island Just Can’t Quit Deloitte

And all it took was an apology for Rhode Island to fall back in love with Deloitte.

“They did apologize, quite frankly, with me directly for that time frame when things were really very disruptive,” Gov. Dan McKee said of Deloitte.

Much like its relationship with the state of Florida, Deloitte Consulting’s relationship with the state of Rhode Island has been rocky, to say the least. Deloitte is like the partner in a romantic relationship who treats the other partner (Florida, Rhode Island) like a piece of shit, but the partner being treated horribly keeps coming back to the one screwing them over.

And Deloitte Consulting is still being paid millions upon millions of dollars for being a dirtbag.

WJAR-TV in Providence reported:

Rhode Island is re-upping a contract with Deloitte for the troubled benefits system known as UHIP [Unified Health Infrastructure Project].

The UHIP system delivers benefits like health care, food stamps and child care subsidies, helping about 1 in 3 people in the state. When the computer system first rolled out back in 2016 during the Gov. Gina Raimondo administration, hundreds of thousands of Rhode Islanders saw their benefits cut off, unjustly reduced or delayed.

When Deloitte’s contract with Rhode Island was about to expire at the end of March 2019, Raimondo was faced with the decision on whether to renew it or not. She did, extending the contract until June 2021, because she said Rhode Island would be better off financially sticking with Deloitte, the Providence Journal reported at that time. But things had gotten so bad that at one point, Raimondo, who is currently U.S. secretary of commerce in the Biden administration, was seriously considering suing Deloitte:

“I have been on this almost weekly for two years,″ [Raimondo] said. “Every decision I made — Should we sue Deloitte? Should we not? Should we settle? Should we keep them on? Should we get a different vendor? — I’ve made through the lens of: What is the right thing for taxpayers, and what is the right thing for the people of Rhode Island, and what is the best outcome for the vulnerable Rhode Islanders who need this system?

“I’ve been very critical of Deloitte all along, as you know,” she told news reporters. “I came to this based on not what was easy or politically expedient or what felt good. Sometimes suing someone feels good [but] then you’re tied up in expensive litigation for years.”

While Rhode Island looks kinda dumb for coming back to and sticking with Deloitte Consulting—the state had two other suitors for the project but chose Deloitte—McKee didn’t commit to a long-term relationship this time around because Rhode Islanders have been burned before:

“I made it clear that I wouldn’t sign a 5-year agreement. We signed a 3-year agreement,” McKee said.

The $99.35 million deal will pay for maintenance and operations through 2024, with three, two-year extensions possible after that.

The good news for Rhode Island is Deloitte has been acting less sketchy lately. According to McKee, the UHIP system is now working well and employees from the state’s Department of Human Services seemed supportive of the contract extension with Deloitte.

Hopefully everything works out between these two lovebirds going forward. But as those of us who have been in a toxic relationship before knows, the Deloitte of the relationship could be back to their asswipe ways at a moment’s notice.

Rhode Island signs $99M UHIP deal with Deloitte [WJAR-TV]

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