Lawmakers take welfare complaints

By KEN de la BASTIDE
Tribune enterprise editor

July 31, 2008 11:50 pm

— Area residents used to waiting up to one hour to talk to someone at a call center to receive Medicaid or food stamps, had to wait 90 minutes before addressing a legislative commission Thursday in Kokomo.
The legislative study commission conducted the first state hearing on problems since the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration signed a contract with a private company to handle eligibility for the two programs.
People filled a room on the Indiana University Kokomo campus waiting to relate to lawmakers problems they have experienced with the new procedures.
Commission members spent the first 90 minutes listening to explanations and questioning FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob.
When they got a chance to speak, recipients spoke of denied claims, long telephone waits and going without benefits.
“Since you changed the new system over, it’s full of crap,” Judith Phillips said. “I had to fight them on my own.”
Phillips said for two months, she had to go without food stamps and was forced to borrow money while awaiting approval.
“You never get to talk to the same person twice,” she complained.
At one point, standing with the aid of a walker, Phillips waved a thick pile of yellow legal paper at committee members. Listed on the sheets was every call she made to the call center in Marion.
“A lot of these people don’t know,” she said of the fight to get benefits. “You never walked in our shoes. There should be a group that comes to our homes.
“The new system is not working right, it is a fake and a fraud,” Phillips said to applause.
Wendy Abcock said her benefits were scheduled for recertification on July 1 and the claim was denied because her income was not verified.
“The county offices can’t help,” she said. “They are there to fax information or help you get on the Internet to apply.”
Abcock said the family is still awaiting approval to get a prescription medication for her son.
Kathy Purvis said the paperwork filed for an individual who is legally blind was lost three times.
Purvis said she cares for her granddaughter and because her income is $23.76 too much each month, the girl is not eligible for assistance.
“We can’t get her hearing aids because she was denied,” Purvis said crying. “She can’t hear the teacher at school.”
Jennifer Workman said she has been trying to get Medicaid coverage for her 19-year-old son. She passed a photograph of her son to commission members.
She said her son was receiving medication through Medicaid while at the Robert J. Kinsey Youth Center.
“They sent the denial letter to the youth center,” Workman said. “”We didn’t know it until we went to the pharmacy.”
Workman said her son is bipolar and has physically attacked her and her husband.
“On April 2, we did an application online,” she explained. “We waited on hold for one hour and were finally told they didn’t receive it.”
A second application was submitted on May 12 and is still pending.
“We’re talking life and death,” she said. “I’m afraid of my own kid if he doesn’t get his medications.”
Workman said she has wasted 30 hours on the telephone and her son still doesn’t have coverage.
Former FSSA case worker outlines problems
Steve Woodall, a former state case worker, went to work for ACS at the new system’s Marion call center for about a year until quitting last April.
Woodall was introduced by his brother-in-law, state Rep. Ron Herrell, D-Kokomo.
Woodall said he worked for the state for 37 years and walked off the job in Marion last April after working six months with the private firm.
“The system is flawed when it doesn’t provide good services,” he said. “We had problems before, but the clients knew or should have known who their case worker was.
“I’ve seen many, many things that are flawed with this system,” Woodall said. “I believe any client should be able to call in and talk to someone who has ultimate responsibility for their case, and this system does not provide that.”
Food stamp cases were not being processed within two or three months, he said. When paperwork is not received, the claim is automatically denied.
Woodall said when he worked for the state, he was assigned to 300 or 400 cases, but monitored them for recertification of eligibility every six months or year.
Lawmakers ask FSSA officials tough questions
FSSA began rolling out the changes in the administration of the Medicaid and food stamp program last year in a 12-county area, including Kokomo. It has been expanded to 47 counties.
The state awarded a team of vendors led by IBM Corp. and Affiliated Computer Services Inc. a $1.16 billion, 10-year contract to process applications for Medicaid, food stamps and other public safety net benefits received by about 1.1 million children, seniors, people with disabilities and other Hoosiers in need.
The federal government informed the state to stop the process of adding more counties to the system until applications could be processed in a more timely fashion.
Roob said FSSA stopped the rollout of food stamps to additional counties because of the flooding in southern Indiana.
“We independently suspended the roll out on June 13,” he said.
Rep. Bill Crawford, chairman of the commission, said the federal Food and Nutrition Service issued a cease-and-desist order.
“I don’t believe they have the authority to tell us to stop,” Roob remarked. “We already decided to stop the rollout.”
Crawford said he had a copy of the e-mail directing FSSA to cease and desist.
“The federal government pays 66 percent of the cost of Medicaid and 100 percent of food stamp costs,” he said. “If you accept the program, there has to be access to food stamps on an equal basis for the entire state.”
Crawford said the golden rule is that the person who has the gold makes the rule, and in this case, the federal government has the gold.
“In the rollout areas, there are complaints,” Crawford said, drawing applause from the crowd. “We want to assure the public that these programs are going to operate in a timely fashion.”
Roob told lawmakers at the public hearing that the agency is working to improve the system. He said the state wants to process applications within 60 days.
He said there has been a decrease in the food stamps being issued in some of the rollout areas.
Crawford said the lawmakers wanted all the bureaucratic obstacles removed from the system which is keeping people from receiving benefits.
“We want you to assure the public that the applications will be processed in a timely fashion and comply with the federal regulations,” he said. “Medical care delay compounds the problem and becomes more costly in the long run.”
Ken de la Bastide can be reached at (765) 454 -8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com

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