Contra Costa Times political reporter, Lisa Vorderbrueggen, reported that a labor dispute between Contra Costa County and its unions may jeopardize a new Obamacare health exchange call center that is slated to be placed in the county (Times, Feb. 24). The call center is to handle telephone inquires relating to state health insurance plans. But why does government have to run a call center?
The call center is to have 205 employees. According to Ms. Vorderbrueggen, “County unions are demanding more generous benefits and relaxed work rules for their prospective new members . . . ”
If the County and its union cannot come to an agreement, the call center may be placed in another county.
There is even a more heated argument over whether the call center should be located in Richmond or Concord, based on proximity to transportation and political grandstanding for constituents that may (or not) be more deserving than the other.
But why does government have to run a call center? There are plenty of private companies that can do the work. To save money, a call center can be established at an overseas location.
The problem with government-run enterprises is that they do not — as most private companies do — try to obtain the lowest possible costs.
Bill Gram-Reefer is Editor & Publisher of Halfway To Concord, founded in 2004. Halfway To Concord is the leading online source for community-driven political news, events, and opinion for Contra Costa County and the San Francisco East Bay.
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Richard:
By definition government decisions are political — not based upon what makes good business sense or common sense. Since government runs a monopoly operation, it has no incentive to run efficiently or even effectively. Government is exclusively focused on growing itself and expanding its power — not on delivering value to taxpayers.
The kerfluffle about “losing” this call center is a red herring. Instead we should be asking the question you raise: Why have the government run an operation that can be run more efficiently and at less cost via private contract?