It recently came to light that an Affordable Care Act health insurance benefits application processing center in Missouri pays workers to sit idle, and now some senators are calling for an investigation into the reports.
According to The Hill, the center, which is run by British outsourcing company Serco and is in Wentzville, Missouri, received $1.25 billion to handle paper health insurance applications and resolve any issues. The center employs 660 workers, The Hill reported, and there are reports that these staff members are asked to refresh their computers every 10 minutes to find new cases.
The main concerns of the senators are that the facility has seen less work than anticipated and that it may not be handling the applications it does receive correctly.
However, Serco has come forward outlining the number of applicants the center has processed, and that it works with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to stay efficient.
"From October 1 through the end of April, our workforce has processed more than 1 million documents and made 1.4 million outbound phone calls to applicants," the company said in a statement, according to Fox News. "As in any business or major program there are peaks and valleys as the various tasks stop and start."