April 21, 2023 at 11:22 a.m.
HHS expects pace to pick up with order expiring
The emergency has been reauthorized a few times since it was issued during the Trump Administration. The emergency federal government programming protocols included allowing tele-health and halting the annual practice of recertifying certain benefits eligibility.
When these and more fall off in May and things go back to normal; Director Robert Benson says all recipients of public assistance programs will be impacted in some form.
The process to apply and be re-approved for Medicaid and certain benefits through Medicare was put on hold during the health emergency, “...this change will result in a significant increase in work (load) for both our staff and community members involved,” said Benson in his memo to the County Board.
Not being able to do visits by remote access is being addressed with staff already moving clients to in person services.
But, the process of recertifying is expected to be complex and maybe a little frustrating. Financial requirements like spenddowns and deductibles resume when the emergency designation expires.
Benson says the state Dept. of Human Services is working on issuing guidelines for county staff.
SNAP program participants can continue to use verbal signatures through June 30, though.
Coinciding with this extra workload is the ongoing MnCHOICES (healthcare) access and vendor issues. Benson says the county is maintaining a waiting list numbering about 50 right now, for assessments of MnCHOICES applications.
In the midst of these pivots and disruption in providing constituent services, the county landed on the top of the state’s list for positive fiscal reporting for 2022. Benson was pleased to share a letter from the Minnesota DHS Commissioner commending Chisago County for submitting 32 reports on or before deadline. This translates to timely revenue for the county and compliance with federal accountability mandates for the state.
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