By KEN de la BASTIDE
Tribune enterprise editor
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.”
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