Backlog persists in NJ Medicaid program under Obamacare, state officials say – The Star-Ledger

By Susan K. Livio and Kathy O’Brien/Star-Ledger Staff

TRENTON — More than 140,000 New Jersey residents successfully applied for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, but 25,000 are caught up in a technological backlog and 7,000 others are still waiting for ID cards, state Human Services officials said Monday.

“While it’s been a number to celebrate — the number of people who now have insurance — the enrollment process has been a struggle,” Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez told the Assembly Budget Committee in Trenton Monday. “The very positive news of the expansion gets eclipsed by the backlog.”

She said processing applications and issuing Medicaid cards has been slow and problematic.

The initial backlog in New Jersey’s Medicaid program, known as NJ FamilyCare, was caused by unusable data sent to it by the federal government — a fact confirmed by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in February. At that time, she estimated the technical problems would be solved in a matter of days.

But moving applicants to the finish line has hit other obstacles. People may apply for Medicaid three ways: through the state; the federal exchange website, HealthCare.gov; and county welfare offices — and all of them have experienced difficulties, said Valerie Harr, director of the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services at Human Services.

The state’s 7-year-old automated system that was supposed to make it easier for counties and the state to share information about child support, food stamps, Medicaid and other social service programs is incomplete and “not operational,” Velez said. The state has withheld money from the contractor, Hewlett-Packard, while they try to work out the problems, she said.

Meanwhile, only eight of the county welfare offices have notified the state about how many applications are still pending, Harr said.

“There is some number of folks that don’t have coverage because of this system. That sounds crazy, it really does,” said Assembly Budget Committee member Joseph Cryan (D-Union).

As long as enrollees have a copy of their application, they may see the doctor, said Velez, who has asked Medicaid providers to cooperate.

But for some people, that message is not getting through.

Liz Henry said she has been helping a sick friend from Union County apply for Medicaid since December. When she eventually called the NJ FamilyCare office because no card had arrived, she said she was told they were behind and “to not call again.” Henry was also told her friend should pay cash for doctor visits until she got her card.

“I think this is criminal,” said Henry, noting her friend’s bills would be in the thousands of dollars.

Jennifer Bilodeau, 47, has given up trying to get an answer. She applied on HealthCare.gov in October, but a miscalculation made it appear any policy was beyond her means. Eventually she was told to apply to New Jersey’s Medicaid program, which she did in November. When she never received any information, she complained to the office of U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

An inquiry to the web address provided by Booker’s office spit out a barrage of applications sent to her by Monmouth County for food stamps, Section 8 housing, and student loans to pursue an MBA.

“I’ve thrown my hands up because I don’t have the time to chase all these people around,” she said.

At Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey, in Newark, they’ve noticed clients are starting to receive their ID cards, said spokeswoman Rena Jordan. Even better, when an enrollment counselor called the NJ FamilyCare 800 number, she was able to get through without being placed on an extended hold or disconnected, she said.

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