- Food stamp frustration is valid, state audit report says, By Corrie MacLaggan, March 30, 2010, Austin American-Statesman: “Applying for food stamps in Texas can be quite a chore, according to a new state auditor’s report. Need to ask a basic question? Forget the phone. Workers often don’t have time to answer questions by phone and their voice mailboxes tend to be full, the report says. Instead, applicants ‘make unnecessary trips to a local office, in which they sometimes sit for hours just to ask a question or submit a document,’ says the report released Tuesday by State Auditor John Keel. ‘Crowded lobbies, long waits, and delays in eligibility determinations clearly resulted in frustrated clients,’ the report said. The report describes an inefficient system in which 80 percent of cases are kept on paper and a lack of experienced workers is contributing to problems processing applications accurately and within the 30 days required by the federal government. It recommends using technology such as automated kiosks and allowing applicants to check the status of cases online, an option the state now makes available only to certain applicants…”
- State auditor questions social services agency’s no-bid deal with ex-colleague to fix welfare problems, By Robert T. Garrett, March 31, 2010, Dallas Morning News: “State Auditor John Keel has questioned why state social services officials awarded work to a former colleague without seeking other bids, when his offer to curtail processing errors is good for only one-fifth of Texas’ 3.3 million food-stamp recipients. Keel also chided Health and Human Services Commission officials for seeking help last summer from former deputy commissioner Gregg Phillips’ company, though they ignored for nearly two years a similar offer by a Plano firm already on contract. Earlier this month, The Dallas Morning News reported that Phillips, who played a major role in the state’s botched privatization of eligibility screening for assistance programs, is making money trying to help Texas fix the problems that resulted…”
- Human Services to lay off 228 workers, By Mary Vorsino, March 30, 2010, Honolulu Advertiser: “The state Department of Human Services will lay off nearly half of its 517 workers who process applications for government benefits and will shut down 31 eligibility offices statewide under a cost-cutting plan set to go into effect June 30. The plan, which has been strongly opposed by advocates for the poor and several lawmakers, is expected to save about $8 million and DHS officials say it will actually speed up wait times by allowing people to apply on-line and over the phone, congregating workers in two main offices and streamlining workloads. The plan comes at a time when DHS is seeing increases in requests for Medicaid, cash assistance, food stamps and child care subsidies as families struggle to make ends meet. The increase in applications has meant significantly longer backlogs in processing requests for help…”
- Disputed welfare practices don’t hold up in court, By Jon Murray, March 31, 2010, Indianapolis Star: “When Gov. Mitch Daniels pulled the plug in October on a privatization contract that was the cornerstone of an aggressive welfare services modernization plan, he said it simply didn’t work. But the arrangement’s inefficiency, lost paperwork and wrongly denied benefits weren’t the only problems. A judge has ruled that parts of the modernization push also violated the law. Two recent rulings from a Marion County judge and a third from Clay County delivered a new slap to the state’s welfare services agency over several practices, including the handling of denials for some benefits and appeals for others. The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration is forging ahead by testing a new ‘hybrid’ plan in some places. In the meantime, dozens of counties still operate with vestiges of the aborted modernization attempt — and with one of the two disputed practices…”
Day: April 1, 2010
State Medicaid Expansions
States can start new Medicaid expansion Thursday, By Christopher Weaver, March 31, 2010, Miami Herald: “Starting Thursday, states can choose to take the first steps toward the massive expansion of insurance coverage that is the recent health overhaul legislation’s chief goal. For some states, that move could have the benefit of reviving funding for state-run programs that insure low-income adults. As of April 1, states can apply for federal funding to expand their Medicaid programs to cover low-income people earning up to 133 percent of the poverty level, or $14,404 for an individual and $29,326.50 for a family of four. If implemented nationwide, this vast increase would bring 15 million more people into the safety-net program, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Typically, Medicaid covers children from families that earn less than the poverty level, and in some cases, their parents. Adults without children usually aren’t eligible, although some states include them…”
Medicaid Reform – Florida
- Florida Senate pushes Medicaid reform, By Marc Caputo and Steve Bousquet, April 1, 2010, Miami Herald: “The state Senate shifted rightward Wednesday by pushing plans to give private companies more tax money to manage prison operations and healthcare for the poor. As debate over the state budget began in earnest, the one-two privatization punch drew opposition from Democrats. They managed to soften the blow to the public prison system — job cuts had been on the table — but failed to halt a sweeping change for the Medicaid program that Republicans proposed in reaction to President Barack Obama’s signing of the new healthcare reform law. In the end, senators unanimously adopted a budget proposal, backing off a controversial plan to save money by opening a privately run prison and closing two state-run lockups. The Senate budget would allow the 2,200-bed, $113 million private Blackwater River prison in Milton to open Nov. 1. It would be run by the GEO Group and its cellblocks filled with inmates from other state-run prisons. The House has not yet approved a budget proposal…”
- Florida’s Republican leaders push for privatized Medicaid program, By Jim Ash, March 31, 2010, Fort Myers News-Press: “The same Republican leaders who vowed to maintain an open and transparent legislative process are pushing a last-minute plan on the Senate floor that would completely rewrite, and essentially privatize, the state’s $18 billion Medicaid program. An amendment by Sens. Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and Joe Negron, R-Port St. Lucie, would ask the federal government for permission to cap the program in exchange for increasing eligibility to another 2 million recipients. Medicaid recipients would get vouchers for private insurance, taking the state ‘out of the check-writing business,’ Negron said. Some would also see co-payments and deductibles. ‘It’s a way to treat people in the Medicaid program with the same dignity and respect as other people,’ Negron said…”