$308M and 4 years late, lawmakers question ‘disastrous’ rollout of WV’s online PATH system

Department of Human Services Secretary Cynthia Persily speaks to lawmakers Aug. 27 during a meeting of the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography)

Four years after its expected due date, the state fully rolled out its online management system for critical programs, like Medicaid, emergency food assistance and the foster care system.

The system, known as WV PATH , was supposed to be completed in 2020.

Its price tag at this point: $308 million.

“The rollout has been disastrous … I think we all know that,” said Del. Amy Summers, R-Taylor, on Tuesday at the State Capitol in Charleston, W.Va., as lawmakers learned more about the system’s implementation.

Sen. Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier, said, “Ultimately, it’s a $308 million system fully operational for three years.”

The project will have additional costs as the Department of Human Services must find a vendor to continue running the behemoth system running critical programs for thousands of West Virginians.

“We will constantly need enhancements and updates and constantly need security,” said DoHS Secretary Cynthia Persily. “I don’t have estimated costs at this point, but we will be developing this as we go forward.”

Persily, who came into her role after the project launched, said she had been heavily involved in getting it to the finish line. It went fully operational in July .

“It’s a huge output of taxpayer dollars. It was also a project that was stalled for a period of time, and a project that perhaps didn’t have enough leadership attention on it,” she said. “Some people would say I’ve been too involved. I think that having eyes on this at all points was appropriate.”

The state contracted with Optum in 2017 for the development of a new Integrated Eligibility System to manage its programs.

DoHS, formerly the state Department of Health and Human Resources, has paid the company as it hit certain completion milestones.

Its lagging implementation and ongoing price tag have been a point of contention for many lawmakers, who have continued to ask state leaders when it would be completed.

The department has spent roughly $103 million so far, according to Persily, and will reach at least $308 million over the next three years as the original contract goes through 2027. A portion of the project was paid by federal dollars.

The project faced multiple hurdles, including the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted workflow. The state health department bumped the completion date to 2023 but missed it.

Persily said that some delays were due to guaranteeing that the system worked. PATH is used to process payments for child care centers, foster parents and more, and they wanted to minimize and negate any interruptions to payments.

“I said this a thousand times during implementation: ‘We are not doing anything that will risk anyone getting paid,” Persily said.

She continued, “I think we’re in a good place. It has taken a long time getting here, and in the end, I think it will be a positive for the citizens of West Virginia.”

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