The offices that help Pennsylvanians keep their Medicaid benefits are facing persistent vacancies and a heavy workload. Advocates and staff fear people could lose coverage as a result.
” of a pandemic-era federal policy that barred states from kicking people off the program for the past three years.
“As advocates,” he said, “we’re worried that the numbers of people losing coverage won’t become apparent right away. By this summer, we could be in a troubling situation with many more uninsured than we have today.” “Workforce challenges are affecting nearly every facet of the human services and health care systems,” Brandon Cwalina, a DHS spokesperson, said in an email. “This was a concern before COVID-19, and the pandemic has only exacerbated the greater focus necessary to ensure our workforce can meet the needs of Pennsylvanians.”
“People are getting their requests for documents after [they’re] due. They’re getting their renewal packets after [they’re] due or not at all. There’s problems all over the state with that,” the worker said. Calling the task ahead of DHS “unprecedented,” they noted that federal researchers have estimated that three out of every four children who lose coverage during Medicaid redetermination will still be eligible.
Pennsylvania families that use CHIP are used to renewing and adjusting their kids’ medical coverage through one of 10 health insurers that contract with the state to provide coverage. But starting in April, the state is shifting those administrative tasks to DHS offices — the same offices dealing with Medicaid reenrollment and staffing shortages.
In a statement, Cwalina said planning for the transition has been underway “for nearly a decade” and that changing course now “would negatively impact the overall system enhancements for the unwinding.” In their letter, the health access advocates claimed Pennsylvania’s ex parte renewal rate is actually even worse than most publicly available data show.
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