All too often, Medicaid-eligible individuals face complicated application instructions, processing errors, long waiting periods, inaccessible systems, and other forms of administrative and procedural barriers that prevent people from getting the coverage they need. Various states use automated decision-making systems, which sometimes make inaccurate decisions about whether or not an individual is eligible for Medicaid. Despite requirements that states automatically renew Medicaid for eligible individuals, many states continue to report low percentages of these automatic or “ex parte” renewals, disproportionately impacting Medicaid enrollees who are age 65 or older, blind, or disabled. Paperwork for Medicaid enrollment or renewal can be long and self-contradictory, but minor errors can result in the loss of urgent health care. The NHeLP Eligibility & Enrollment team tackles a large range of these issues in order to make it simpler and easier for eligible individuals to get and keep Medicaid coverage, without these unnecessary barriers.
