Guilford official: 2,650-case Medicaid backlog will be cleared

July 15--Updated 6:50 p.m.

Guilford County social services is working through another backlog three months after it cleared a caseload that nearly cost the state $88 million.

The department is working through a backlog of 2,650 Medicaid applications, interim social services director Sam Haithcock said Tuesday.

The state has asked counties to clear their Medicaid backlogs by Aug. 31. Haithcock said he's confident that Guilford County will clear its backlog before the deadline because it's processing about 572 applications per week.

"It's probably unlikely in a number of counties, but we're certainly trying to get it done here," Haithcock said. "Urban counties, as a group, have the biggest challenge, because they have a large number of cases."

Haithcock said Guilford County won't see a repeat on Medicaid cases like what happened with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, commonly referred to as food stamps.

In March, the county Department of Social Services revealed it had a backlog of 8,100 unprocessed food stamp recertification cases with about a week to clear it before missing a federal deadline that could have cost the state $88 million in federal money.

The county narrowly met the deadline, with at least $3,000 in overtime pay and 22 workers sent from the state to help. Last week, the News & Record obtained documents from an internal investigation that suggest at least some workers knew about the backlog and were instructed to hide it.

Shortly after the backlog came to light, director Robert Williams resigned. Haithcock started work May 19; he is the department's third interim director of social services since Williams resigned.

Technical problems with the software of a new computer system, NC FAST, led to backlogs statewide. The system, which the state began implementing in May 2012, was intended to speed up the processing of benefits.

"The charge I had was to make sure that we're on track with getting NC FAST working as fast as we can," Haithcock said. "Nothing's perfect, and I'm sure we're going to find along the way there are going to be challenges."

Because NC FAST goes offline periodically for maintenance, Haithcock said Guilford is trying to work well in advance of the August deadline to leave time for any issues that might come up in processing the Medicaid cases.

The Medicaid backlog is partially due to the Affordable Care Act, Haithcock said. People began enrolling for Medicaid through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace in October, but the federal government didn't release those applications to the state until January, Haithcock said.

The federal government gave Guilford County several thousand cases to process at one time, he said.

Social Services is using overtime, temporary workers and interns to clear the backlog, Haithcock said.

Haithcock did not know when Guilford County started entering Medicaid cases into NC FAST. Calls made to County Commissioner Ray Trapp and Myra Thompson, director of the social services administrative services division, were not returned Tuesday.

------

Posted 2:20 p.m.

Guilford County social services staff are working through a backlog of 2,650 Medicaid applications, interim social services director Sam Haithcock said Tuesday.

The state has asked counties to clear their Medicaid backlogs by Aug. 31. Haithcock said he's confident that Guilford County will clear its backlog before the deadline because it's processing about 572 applications per week.

"It's probably unlikely in a number of counties, but we're certainly trying to get it done here," Haithcock said. "Urban counties, as a group, have the biggest challenge, because they have a large number of cases."

Haithcock said Guilford County won't see a repeat on Medicaid cases like the one it saw with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, commonly referred to as food stamps.

In March, the Department of Social Services revealed it had a backlog of 8,100 unprocessed food stamp recertification cases with about a week to clear it before missing a federal deadline that could have cost the state $88 million in federal money.

The county narrowly met the deadline, with at least $3,000 in overtime pay and 22 workers sent from the state. Last week, the News & Record obtained documents from an internal investigation that suggest at least some workers knew about the backlog and were instructed to hide it.

Shortly after the backlog came to light, director Robert Williams resigned. Haithcock started work May 19 and is the third interim director social services has had since Williams resigned.

"The charge I had was to make sure that we're on track with getting NC FAST working as fast as we can," Haithcock said. "Nothing's perfect, and I'm sure we're going to find along the way there are going to be challenges."

Contact Kelly Poe at (336) 373-7003, and follow @poe_NR on Twitter.

___

(c)2014 the News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.)

Visit the News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.) at www.news-record.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services