{"id":484,"date":"2015-11-19T14:20:27","date_gmt":"2015-11-19T23:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/?p=484"},"modified":"2015-11-19T14:36:47","modified_gmt":"2015-11-19T23:36:47","slug":"mending-the-hole-in-medicaid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/mending-the-hole-in-medicaid\/","title":{"rendered":"Mending the Hole in Medicaid"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"_39k5\">\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-486\" src=\"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screen-Shot-2015-11-19-at-2.18.46-PM-300x186.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2015-11-19 at 2.18.46 PM\" width=\"300\" height=\"186\" srcset=\"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screen-Shot-2015-11-19-at-2.18.46-PM-300x186.png 300w, https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screen-Shot-2015-11-19-at-2.18.46-PM-1024x636.png 1024w, https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screen-Shot-2015-11-19-at-2.18.46-PM.png 1130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>I was concerned about Alaska\u2019s response to persons seeking to take advantage of the Medicaid expansion and so wrote to the lead on the project. I received a prompt response from <a href=\"#chris\">Chris Ashenbrenner<\/a>, and a follow-up e-mail from <a href=\"#sean\">Sean O\u2019Brien<\/a> at the Division of Public Assistance (the note from Chris appears second so that the reference to it as \u201cbelow\u201d by Sean isn\u2019t confusing).<\/div>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">Bottom line?<\/div>\n<ul class=\"_5a_q _5yj1\">\n<li class=\"_2cuy _509q\">If it you have a medical situation or condition you believe requires immediate attention call 1-844-231-7880.<\/li>\n<li class=\"_2cuy _509q\">If you have not yet applied for Medicaid expansion, apply for Medicaid online at <a href=\"https:\/\/my.alaska.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\">MyAlaska<\/a> (under &#8220;<span class=\"_5yi_\">Services for Individuals&#8221; c<\/span>lick on &#8220;ARIES Self-Service Portal&#8221;) or go directly to ARIES at <a href=\"https:\/\/aries.alaska.gov\/screener\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/aries.alaska.gov\/screener\/<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li class=\"_2cuy _509q\">The federal government has set a 45 day limit for the qualification process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">Yes, there is a backlog. Specifics? They were not forthcoming. Problems? We have a desperate need for competent Social Workers as the welfare safety net becomes too complex to navigate.<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">\n<p>The letters:<br \/>\n<a name=\"sean\"><\/a>Good morning Mr. Grober,<\/p>\n<p>I apologize for the delay. To add on to Chris&#8217;s information below, there are a number of variables regarding the speed of which applications are processed as she indicated. As she indicated, if there is special expediting needs related to the more immediate health needs of the individual which would be identified in the application, it would be processed more quickly. If not, the federal government has set a 45 day period for us to complete Medicaid eligibility determination. In addition, applications that are submitted electronically, either through the healthcare.gov or our DPA ARIES websites, generally go through faster than paper applications given the increased speed staff are able to process them. Based on what you indicated below, it sounds like one of our Anchorage offices is checking on this particular case. I&#8217;m also including our lead on constituent concerns, Jason Burke to check into this as well. I&#8217;m cc&#8217;ing his supervisor, Aimee Olejasz so she&#8217;s informed as well.<\/p>\n<p>I hope this information helps you and your client in this particular case.<\/p>\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n<p>Sean O&#8217;Brien, MA, CRC<br \/>\n907-465-5847<br \/>\nDirector, Alaska Division of Public Assistance (DPA)<br \/>\nAlaska Department of Health and Social Services<br \/>\n350 Main Street, Suite 304<br \/>\nJuneau, AK 99801<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">_______________________<\/div>\n<p><a name=\"chris\"><\/a>Good morning, Mr. Grober.<\/p>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">There is a Medicaid application backlog right now &#8211; the applications that are being processed the quickest are those that don&#8217;t require any additional information to determine eligibility. However, for a full answer to your questions, I&#8217;ve asked the Division of Public Assistance to respond to your questions. One thing you might want to relay to your client is that the Division of Public Assistance has established a process for prioritizing Medicaid applications. Here is the information from their website at <a href=\"http:\/\/dhss.alaska.gov\/dpa\/Pages\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/dhss.alaska.gov\/dpa\/Pages\/default.aspx<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">Medical Emergencies<\/div>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">Please call 1-844-231-7880, if you submitted an application for Medicaid and someone is experiencing an emergent need for medical assistance such as:<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">Medical procedures to address a life threatening illness or injury<\/li>\n<li class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">Travel for high risk medical procedures<\/li>\n<li class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">Prescriptions that need to be filled<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">Hope this helps for now &#8211; you should hear back for Public Assistance before too long.<\/div>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">Chris<\/div>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx\">Chris Ashenbrenner<br \/>\nMedicaid Redesign and Expansion Coordinator<br \/>\nAlaska Health and Social Services<br \/>\nAlaska Office Building Room 425<br \/>\n(907) 465-5808 &#8211; office<br \/>\n(907) 343-9550 &#8211; mobile<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was concerned about Alaska\u2019s response to persons seeking to take advantage of the Medicaid expansion and so wrote to the lead on the project. I received a prompt response from Chris Ashenbrenner, and a follow-up e-mail from Sean O\u2019Brien at the Division of Public Assistance (the note from Chris appears second so that the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,13,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics","category-marc-grober","category-social-welfare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":490,"href":"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484\/revisions\/490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opinion.alaskapolicy.net\/pardonme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}