CWA Thanks DeLauro and Murray for Questioning CMS Administrator on Potential Outsourcing of Call Center Jobs

WASHINGTON, DC – CWA thanked 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, for sending a letter on Thursday 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.

"Seema Verma must answer whether the Trump administration is planning to put the jobs of call center workers working to make sure Americans have access to healthcare at risk,” said Shane Larson, CWA’s Senior Director for Government Affairs and Policy. “What does Verma say to workers and their families in small communities like London, Kentucky and Chester, Virginia where Maximus is a major employer?”

“It's unacceptable to even consider offshoring these jobs, and CWA is thankful that Members of Congress like Rep. DeLauro and Senator Murray are looking out for working people by drawing attention to this RFI. CWA is committed to making these good family-supporting jobs, and will fight to ensure that these jobs stay in the United States where they are currently located,” Larson said.

“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 the letter. “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.”

The full letter can be found here.