By MELINDA DESLATTE

Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein's name was forwarded Wednesday to the full Senate for confirmation, despite concerns about his involvement in the bid process that put his former employer in line for a $300 million state Medicaid contract.

The Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee, which reviewed all the appointees nominated for confirmation, voted 5-2 to recommend Greenstein's appointment -- though several senators chastised Greenstein before agreeing.

"I believe that good things will come from Secretary Greenstein, but in the event that they don't, I certainly want the department and Mr. Greenstein and the administration to know that we in the Senate will be watching very, very closely," said Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge.

The full Senate will consider Greenstein's confirmation Thursday, in a list of appointees who have been named to positions since the Legislature was in regular session last year. Greenstein was appointed by Gov. Bobby Jindal last summer.

The secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals had largely received praise from lawmakers, until recently, when he ran into criticism about an eight-year contract slated to go CNSI, a company for which Greenstein worked from 2005 to 2006.

The announcement that CNSI was chosen for the Medicaid claims processing and information technology contract was made earlier this month, and only after pressure from lawmakers who had learned CNSI was one of the finalists.

The health secretary said he wasn't involved in CNSI's selection, but he acknowledged his office rewrote the solicitation for bids for the lucrative contract in a way that made CNSI eligible to do the work. He said the changes were to allow for greater competition, but the secretary also insisted that he wasn't involved in the evaluation and scoring of applicants.

Sen. Karen Carter Peterson and some of her colleagues said Greenstein wasn't completely truthful in his first appearance before the committee about his involvement in the bid solicitations. After DHH records and Greenstein's calendar were subpoenaed, Greenstein acknowledged he had more input than he had previously suggested. He said he didn't remember until he had gone through the documents.

"In my humble opinion, he is not worthy of serving the citizens of this state when he cannot come before the committee and tell the truth. I think his integrity is in question," said Peterson, D-New Orleans.

Peterson and Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia, both voted against recommending Greenstein for confirmation.

"I think the citizens deserve better than what went on with this contract. They deserve a transparent process, and they didn't get it," Marionneaux said.

CNSI submitted the lowest bid, but didn't get the best technical score among applicants.

According to the subpoenaed documents, Greenstein had expressed interest in the contract two months before he officially started work for the state. He also met with a top CNSI official within days of coming to the DHH job.

Sen. Lydia Jackson, D-Shreveport, supported the advancement of Greenstein's name for confirmation, but she said the confirmation hearings had called into question the administration's commitment to openness.

"I don't believe that the secretary engaged in an action that manipulated the outcome, but I am concerned with the conditions that preceded the award of this contract," Jackson said. "But on the balance I am going to take into consideration his outreach and work with providers and hope that this process will serve as a lesson to him about the need for honesty, transparency and responsiveness."

Greenstein's staff involved in the contract scoring and evaluation testified that they had never been asked by Greenstein to change a score or re-evaluate a contract proposal. Eleven evaluations teams involving 60 people combed through the bids before choosing a contract winner.

"I was convinced in my mind that he kept himself out of the selection process," said Sen. Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, who supported Greenstein's confirmation.

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