Daily News | Pa. faces a shortage of benefits workers as health coverage for thousands is on the line
” of a pandemic-era federal policy that barred states from kicking people off the program for the last three years.
That situation is even more troubling, he added, because the very offices dealing with these reenrollments and process changes are having trouble keeping jobs filled.The responsibility for assessing Medicaid recipients’ eligibility and reenrolling people in the program primarily lies with caseworkers for the department’sThese offices also employ clerical workers whose jobs include scanning important physical documents into DHS systems.
DHS has characterized the vacancy rate as only “slightly higher than average” and “in line with what other human services employers have experienced over the course of the pandemic.” The worker, who requested anonymity in order to talk candidly about their job conditions, is one of the commonwealth’s manyThey work in one of DHS’s statewide processing centers, which they said has for months served primarily as a call center instead of assisting with enrollment because of staffing issues elsewhere in the system.
“We remain very concerned about the enormous administrative workload the county assistance offices [CAOs] will face when redetermining eligibility for this large volume of cases while resuming regular operations after three years, and how that is likely to translate into individuals losing coverage, though remaining eligible,” the groups wrote.
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 amid 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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