Posted on 04/22/2014 7:54:20 AM PDT by grundle
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spends roughly $123.2 million per year to provide “email services” for its 70,000 employees, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Buried in a footnote of a recently released GAO report on the agency’s coordination with the nonprofit group Enroll America, the congressional watchdog detailed the high operating costs associated with running the department’s email.
“HHS told us that HHS pays $146.64 per month per user for email; that this charge covers connectivity, storage, and other e-mail services; and that this charge is independent of the number of emails that are sent or received,” the GAO said.
According to the Cato Institute, HHS employs approximately 70,000 people.
Assuming each employee has a government email address, the agency pays $10,264,800 per month for its email services. The cost per year runs to $123,177,600.
The report also noted that HHS pays $10.44 each month “per telephone line” for the HHS secretary, though it is unclear how many government lines former Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had.
“Each phone call, whether local or long distance, is charged at a unit cost of $0.014 per minute,” the GAO said.
The report revealed that Sebelius, along with a White House official, solicited donations from private health care companies to promote Obamacare, which may have violated federal law.
Commonly called iPhones.....
I’m betting the bulk of that $123 million is to ensure emails can’t be found.
Way too high for just the email. I wonder if this includes the fully loaded cost of the IP staff. Secondly, if the IRS has similar staffing amd costs, why will it take years to retrieve emails on their targeting scandal?
IP should be IT.
I gotta keep emails to my wife about what’s for dinner if she sends um to my business address..
These people work for me and their emails should all be on line and searchable if you ask me.
Sounds reasonable...sarc
The government pays $146.64 per month per user for the same email that they could get for free.
No wonder Big Biz loves Big Gov.
No they pay A LOT more than that for IT. The contract to support the govt computers in US airports was $2 Billion for 5 years.
How would government get email services for free? (Think carefully before you answer.)
Socialism Is Legal Plunder - Bastiat
Clean their clock. CONFISCATE their assets for payment.
The State of California is on that list as a contractor.
Also the Government of Canada.
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