Rhode Island’s troubled new benefits system under review by Governor Gina Raimondo

A network issue and a separate system outage, just two of the most recent UHIP technical issues this week causing long lines and waits for customers. Governor Gina Raimondo speaking out Thursday saying the issues surrounding Rhode Island’s troubled new benefits system are unacceptable.
 
"I am disappointed, the system went down for a half an hour yesterday, an hour the day before that shouldn’t be happening at this stage in the game," says Governor Raimondo.

Governor Raimondo adding January 1st did not go they way they had hoped. Rhode Island law makers are happy to hear that the governor is taking further action. They say it’s overdue.
 
"We’ve certainly come to a point where we are at critical mass. If something dramatic is not done I fear that further damage will be done to that community and that’s just not acceptable," says Representative Mike Chippendale.

"Besides accountability we now need a corrective action plan to fix this for the individuals, waiting in line, waiting for cash assistance, waiting for snap benefits. Then we have the small businesses out there, the nursing homes, the day care centers," says Representative Patricia Serpa.

No word on the exact actions that will be taken. Governor Raimondo says while this will be a long process, change will begin soon.

"I’ve decided some more dramatic changes need to be made and over the next few days I’m going to be working with the team to figure out what those changes need to be."

(c)WLNE-TV/ABC6 2017