DEPARTMENT: Employment and Economic Assistance
FILE TYPE: Regular Information
TITLE
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Update On Medical Assistance
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PURPOSE/ACTION REQUESTED
Receive an update on the Medical Assistance program (MA) and the unwinding of the Public Health Emergency.
SUMMARY
Staff will provide an informational overview of Public Assistance program case levels and staffing. The focus will be on: the MA program administered by Employment & Economic Assistance (E&EA); reconvening of MA renewals; and the unwinding of the Public Health Emergency Waivers.
In December 2019, Dakota County's pre-pandemic MA caseload was 35,045. As of March 2023, the MA caseload had grown to 53,605, a 52 percent increase. During the Public Health Emergency, MA annual eligibility recertification was waived with case closures only occurring for moves out of state, death, and customer request. In July 2023, MA annual eligibility recertification reconvened. As of May 2024, MA caseload was 45,002.
The waivers are no longer in place and added policy has decreased the work in some areas but equally increased it in others. There is a backlog of 5,731 MA renewal cases and another 465 applications to be processed. Each renewal or application for MA takes 40-90 minutes to process. Given the current staffing contingent, MA work is about 4 months behind.
The assistance from the Health Care Unwinding positions has been instrumental in avoiding further backlog. The staffing challenges are significant and every position is valuable. Financial Worker positions have had an average of 18 vacancies each year for the past 3 years. A full 33 percent of Financial Workers have less than 2 years of experience, which is the general standard to be fully productive.
OUTCOMES
Program goals include:
* Maintain satisfactory services to all enrollees on MA being served by E&EA staff.
* Provide satisfactory intake for new applicants being served by E&EA staff.
RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
Information only; no actio...
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