Massachusetts Health Connector Staffers Cashing In
By Chris Cassidy, Boston Herald | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
"What I see is not salary," Connector Executive Director
All told, 11 of the 53 Connector staffers onboard as of last year -- about one in five -- saw a spike in pay of
In many cases, the raises amounted to between 21 percent and 24 percent of the staffer's base salary.
The pay bumps include:
--Nearly
--
--
--
--Another
--Nearly
And more pay hikes are likely on the way. The Connector approved a fiscal 2015 budget that allows for another 3 percent for performance-based raises, provided the agency can successfully relaunch its website by November.
Overall, the number of high-powered director-level positions soared to 13 from 8, Connector payroll records show.
The pay hikes, awarded between
The Connector's malfunctioning Web portal has continually vexed people desperate to sign up for new health plans.
The portal has already cost taxpayers hundreds of millions as officials scramble to fix it in time for the next round of Obamacare deadlines.
Yang unilaterally approved most of the raises, suggesting they were necessary to retain staff mid-crisis.
"That's what I was thinking about day and night ... how do I hold this team together so we can do what needs to be done urgently, so we don't fall apart," Yang said. "It was just extremely important for people to take on responsibilities that are twice, three times, of their normal workload."
Overall, the Connector staff grew from 53 in fiscal 2014 to 61 in fiscal 2015, and only three employees left.
Among the fresh hires, two were recently brought in to newly created posts -- a director of carrier engagement and an enterprise architect -- each earning a whopping
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