The latest Executive Order or EO signed by President Trump created a council to modernize IT systems. This EO aimed at modifying the outdated IT systems used by federal government. However, the new IT council made by Trump has left out HHS or the Department of Health and Human Services. Experts suggest that the exclusion of HHS was triggered due to its highest IT budget, which might have reached to $6.5 B in 2017.
Trump’s IT council and HHS budget
The EO signed by President Trump in the last week was mainly aimed at creating American Technology Council or simply called as IT Council. The council is led by Trump and includes leaders from several high-profile federal departments. However, this council does not include the Department of Health and Human Services or HHS.
The reason behind excluding HHS is said to be its high budget. HHS of Health and Human Services department requires more attention. This department’s IT spending is more than the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Veterans Affairs combined. In 2011, the HHS’s budget was around $6.6 billion. By 2016, this budget doubled to $12.6 billion. A report authored by IDC Government Insights in October says, that the budget for this department will remain steady through 2020.
The most expensive item in the HHS department’s budget is the Medicaid Management Information System. This is overseen by CMS. The budget for this system reached nearly $7 billion in 2015 and is expected to hit $6.5 billion in 2017. This particular system itself will consume half amount of the budget allotted for HHS. In front of this huge budget, the budget for two IT systems in the VA also look small. In fact, these IT systems in the VA were criticized for its IT expenditures; but they together make the budget up to $2 billion.
Date:May 10, 2017