Applying for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) isn’t as hard as it’s said to be, a customer satisfaction survey shows.
A majority of Utah applicants for public health benefits say forms are easily understood and quickly processed within a week to 30 days. Those asked to show additional proof of eligibility, such as pay stubs or bank statements, indicated they had "small" or "no" problems doing so. And though a slim majority – 44 percent of Medicaid enrollees and 62 percent of CHIP enrollees – had trouble contacting an eligibility worker, they say they were treated with courtesy and respect.
Conducted last spring, the poll of just under 500 applicants reflects favorably on Utah’s Department of Workforce Services, which took control of Medicaid and CHIP eligibility in 2008. The findings run counter to employee complaints of low morale and concerns voiced by low-income advocates about poor customer service.
Workforce Services inherited Medicaid and CHIP eligibility just as the recession hit and scores of unemployed applied for aid. From January 2008 to January 2012, enrollment in Utah’s health safety nets swelled 57 percent —from 159,000 to about 251,000.
Meanwhile, the number of eligibility workers shrank from 1,094 to 808, and the budget was slashed $21 million.
Utah is eligible for federal consumer assistance funding, but has twice shied from applying for the $250,000 grants. Salt Lake Tribune
