Florida’s Medicaid Options Hotline Backlogged, Threatens Beneficiaries’ Access to Care, Group Says
The hotline Florida Medicaid beneficiaries must call to switch health plans continues to be understaffed and consistently busy, according to the consumer advocacy group Florida CHAIN, the Florida Health News reports. CHAIN in a release said that because of the problems, "many beneficiaries are facing a disruption of essential care." According to CHAIN, the state Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees Medicaid, has known about the problem since the state began using a new vendor four months ago but has failed to adequately address the problems.
The group called on AHCA Secretary Holly Benson to suspend automatic enrollment of Medicaid beneficiaries into HMOs until the problems are resolved; prioritize enrollment for beneficiaries who face the greatest barriers to care; and establish an online enrollment process to allow beneficiaries "to bypass the log-jammed phone system." EDS, which operates the Medicaid information systems and the hotline, said it would look into the problems (Florida Health News, 12/2).
