In your Aug. 6 editorial “Don’t cry for me, North Carolina,” you said that DHHS Secretary Aldona Wos’ tenure “cost the taxpayers dearly.”
You failed to mention that for four years in a row before she took the helm that Medicaid shortfalls were nearly $2 billion. For two straight years, the Medicaid program posted positive cash on hand – that’s more than a nine-figure swing with the recent surplus of $130 million.
I was a member of the governor’s DHHS transition committee, and we all knew the swamp was deep and wide, and Wos went in anyway. She had no choice but to convert the billing platform (NC Tracks) that was three decades-plus old, hundreds of millions over budget (before her tenure) and not capable of handling the new ICD-10 codes mandated by the feds, among a host of other issues with a legacy system.
The feds have now certified that system, and millions have been brought back to the state. She was resolute and stalwart as ever despite criticism from across the political spectrum, and we all as taxpayers owe her a debt of gratitude.
Ed Gaines
Greensboro
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