DeLauro, Murray Question CMS Administrator on Potential Outsourcing of Call Center Jobs

WASHINGTON, DC – (February 21, 2020)Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,sent a letter to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma in response to a request for information implying CMS is considering outsourcing American call center jobs.

"We are writing out of concern about a Request for Information that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued in November 2019 that could have negative implications for American workers and health care consumers," wrote the Members. "In that RFI, CMS asked providers to ‘Provide industry best practice on if and how facilitating contact centers located in emerging markets can reduce labor costs; provide any lessons learned or cost savings.'"

"We were disturbed by the apparent implication that CMS is considering offshoring these jobs to low-income countries where contractors can more easily exploit and underpay workers," continued the Members. "Currently, this contract employs about 10,000 workers who help millions of Americans access health care services. Many of these workers are located in small communities such as London, Kentucky and Chester, Virginia, which would be harmed greatly by the loss of significant numbers of jobs—especially if resolution of the outstanding misclassification complaints result in workers being moved into more appropriate, higher-paying classifications."

A signed copy of the full letter can be found here.

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