Medicaid beneficiaries say communicating with the agency is difficult, and the reapplication process is confusing and cumbersome.
Jessica Greene, PhD, Luciano Chair of Health Care Policy at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College in New York City, and Diane Gibson, PhD, professor at the Marxe School, conducted focus groups with Medicaid beneficiaries in 13 states. The researchers detailed their participants' responses in a Sept. 29 article for Health Affairs.
The focus group participants were "extraordinarily appreciative" of the program but had frustrations with communication and the application and renewal process.
Members described receiving confusing letters in the mail, sometimes arriving in English when members marked they preferred communication in Spanish.
Focus group participants described the process of applying for Medicaid as "really stressful" and "very challenging."
"They'll ask you for more things, more proof, just re-asking you things over and over again, re-asking you to submit your income, asking for things that don't change like asking for a birth certificate over again for my kids like four years after they were born, and we've already been on Medicaid for years," a Kentucky woman told the researchers.
Participants also described difficulty getting assistance from state Medicaid agency staff, with long wait times to speak to someone on the phone. When the focus group participants did speak to staff, they said they often received inconsistent advice from different people.
Read the full article here.