Keller @ Large: State Auditor Suzanne Bump On MassHealth Audit

BOSTON (CBS) -- If you've been watching WBZ political analyst Jon Keller's segments in the afternoon and evening news, you know he's been doing an occasional series on wasteful spending at the state, local, and federal level.

Jon's guest this week, Suzanne Bump, has the job of monitoring wasteful spending at the state level. She's served in the state legislature, was Gov. Deval Patrick's Secretary of Labor, and is now the Massachusetts State Auditor.

Keller asked Bump if she was surprised by what she learned about wasteful spending when she became state auditor.

"Frankly, no," she said. "I had had the opportunity to serve as a bureaucrat myself when I was Secretary of Labor and Workplace Development, and that's really when I had my eyes opened to the failures in government to use data, to measure performance, to do long-term planning. When government fails to do that, the result is inefficiencies, poor performance."

Bump said it was that experience that made her want to be state auditor. She recently conducted an audit that found $193 million in improper or questionable payments by MassHealth.

"No matter what the challenge of the day is, you have to maintain a laser focus at all times on accountability and oversight in your organization," said Bump. "If you don't have that, and you are spending money on other things, then you are being pennywise and pound foolish."

Watch the clip below to view Keller and Bump's full conversation about the MassHealth audit.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.